To Snarry or not to Snarry
by YenGirl
Summary: Severus Snape's two familiars have a mind of their own. The good news is, they both want him to find love. The bad news is, they don't agree on whom he should love. Pre-Snarry. Hopefully.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes: **Hello everyone and Happy Easter if you celebrate this day :) This isn't an Easter themed story, but an idea my daughter came up with, mixing my love for Snarry and her dislike for the same. This is the result... and still a work in progress.

**Appreciation: **My thanks goes to **Schattengestalt**, talented Snarry writer and good friend, whose wonderful story Furry Matchmaker was the basis for my daughter's inspiration.

**Summary: **Severus Snape's two familiars have a mind of their own. The good news is, they both want him to find love. The bad news is, they don't agree on whom he should love. Pre-Snarry. Hopefully.

**Warnings: **Two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

**Rating: **'T'

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is the brainchild of JK Rowlings.

\- Chapter Start -

"Severus belongs with him!" The gray kitten with velvety soft fur insisted, glaring at her friend.

"No, he doesn't!" The caramel coloured kitten with orange stripes glared right back.

"They belong together!"

"No, they don't!"

"Yes, they do!"

"No, they-"

"Ladies?"

Both felines immediately turned their heads towards the owner of that deep, rich voice. Slitted pupils expanded, narrowed eyes rounded and snarling mouths softened to emit innocent little mewls.

"What were you two going on about this time, hmm?" Severus asked. He crouched down and stroked their small heads with gentle fingertips, smiling as they rubbed against his hands, enjoying the attention.

"Don't try to distract me," he told them. "Today is bath day and you know it."

Both kittens looked up at once, Velvet with a reproachful expression and Caramel with one of glee.

Severus chuckled before a thoughtful look entered his eyes. Since his potions lab was sparkling clean and his store cupboard sorted for the week, perhaps a different sort of detention could be issued next?

Of course, it all depended on which student that would be since it would take place here, inside his personal quarters. All above board, but that didn't mean he wanted any Tom, Dick or -

_Harry._

Severus exhaled as a familiar face with bright green eyes under an unruly mop of black hair came to his mind's eye. Scowling, he stood up. Caramel and Velvet might enjoy Potter's company, but that wasn't something Severus wanted to encourage.

It was too risky.

\- o -

It was almost time for the last class of the day - Double Potions for fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Harry sighed, dragging his feet as he, Ron and Hermione made their way to the dungeons. He had always dreaded Potions, but this year it was for an entirely different reason. During his first night back, he had discovered something about himself that suddenly made Potions both his most and least looked forward to class.

His crush on Professor Severus Snape.

His unexpected, unexplainable and completely _idiotic_ crush on the teacher who hated him the most. Apart from the gender issue, the notable age gap and the whole teacher-student thing, he was also unsure about the _why._

Snape wasn't easy on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination and had always treated him abominably besides. Harry supposed it had to be because of that one brief glimpse of the man a month ago, lasting no longer than half a minute and – oh God, just admitting it to himself was enough to turn Harry's cheeks scarlet.

"C'mon mate, you don't want to be late for Potions!" Ron's urgent voice broke through Harry's reverie and made him hasten his footsteps.

As luck would have it, Snape appeared to be in a foul mood when he swept into the classroom two minutes later, his robes billowing behind him. A quick flick of his wand caused a list of ingredients to appear on the board and then he stopped behind his desk and spun around, pinning the entire class with his piercing gaze.

"Anyone," he uttered in a sibilant whisper that was heard in the furthest corners of the now silent room, "who does not pay sufficient attention when brewing today's Draught of Peace shall suffer both point loss _and_ detention."

His eyes narrowed on Neville who squeaked before cutting to Ron who swallowed hard before ending at Harry who just blinked at him.

"Begin."

\- o -

Snape might as well have asked Malfoy outright to botch his potion, Harry thought resentfully at the end of the lesson. The blond Slytherin, never one to let up on both opportunity and a short tempered Potions Master, had just tossed something into Harry's cauldron, causing the pale lilac liquid to curdle and turn an immediate rusty orange.

Harry glared at him before looking around, his heart sinking further when he spied various shades of pale coloured liquid in the other cauldrons. Even Neville's lemon yellow solution was nearer to their colour than his was.

"Well, well, well. Mr. Potter."

Harry swung back and found Snape looming over him with his botched potion between them, those thin lips twisted in a sneer. He almost took a step back, his heart giving a lurch at the man's sudden proximity.

"It looks like you will be the one helping me tonight." Despite his vindictive tone, Snape looked somewhat... resigned.

\- o -

After a dinner of chicken and mushroom pie which he only picked at, Harry waved off a worried Ron and Hermione and made his way back to the dungeons. He found the door he had been given directions to after two wrong turns and ignored the raised eyebrows of the very old wizard in the portrait guarding it.

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, he knocked on the door, one part of him wondering what sort of detention had to take place in Snape's personal quarters while the other tried to decide if he was more nervous or excited by the fact. When the door opened without a sound, extending a silent invitation for him to enter, he took another breath and stepped inside.

Two high pitched meows from the direction of the floor pulled his gaze downward and then he smiled, his nervousness momentarily forgotten.

"Hello, Velvet, Caramel," he said softly and knelt down. The two kittens immediately climbed into his lap, mewling as if they were all alone in a cruel, uncaring world, left to fend for themselves.

Harry chuckled as he ran his fingers through their soft fur, ignoring the fact that he would have a few cat hairs clinging to his school robes after this. Snape's kittens were standoffish creatures, looking at everyone with arrogant eyes and disdaining clutching fingers, grabby hands and girlish squeals. Only their master was allowed to touch them... and the schoolboy fussing over them right now.

_Flashback to the first night of term a month ago..._

Harry and Ron ducked out the main entrance after the Welcoming Feast. Ron insisted he had dropped his dragonhide gloves while on the carriage ride to the castle. The gloves were quite worn through, having protected Bill and then Charlie's hands for years, but the memory of the Howler Molly Weasley sent in their second year convinced Harry and Ron it was worth the risk of being caught outside to look for them.

Luck was on their side; a few minutes' search and a quick _Accio_ found the errant gloves lying on the ground, looking like they had been badly trampled on. They were about to turn back when a soft cry for help had them walking another twenty feet where they found a small gray kitten lying on the ground with a caramel kitten fussing around her.

Harry dropped to his knees beside them and softened the glow of his lit wand. The two kittens looked warily up at him and Ron, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Hello," Harry said softly, "are you hurt?"

The gray kitten blinked up at him and then very slowly held out a paw, giving a soft meow of affirmation.

After taking a quick look at the bleeding paw, Harry scooped both kittens into his arms and stood up, ignoring their startled protests and Ron's "Mate, what are you doing? Whose kittens are they?"

Harry didn't know, but he was sure Hagrid would be more than willing to help and was still in the Great Hall. That was good otherwise going all the way to his hut would almost certainly end in both him and Ron being caught out of doors.

Unfortunately, a different member of staff greeted them at the open doors of the castle, booted feet apart and arms crossed over his chest, a triumphant look on his dour face. Harry felt his full stomach fall to his feet.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. Wanting to lose points for your House a bit earlier this year?"

The mocking voice froze Harry and Ron to the spot, the former berating himself for following Ron and the latter thinking of the Howler that would surely arrive tomorrow. Before they could say anything, there was a shrill meow from Harry's arms and the caramel kitten leapt at Snape.

"What - Caramel, where have you been? Where's Velvet?"

A second meow sounded from Harry's arms. He instinctively held the gray kitten out to Snape who took it from him with unexpected gentleness, cool fingers brushing over Harry's own.

For the next half minute or so, Snape examined the tiny paw the kitten held out in the light of a soft _Lumos_, seemingly oblivious to his astonished audience. Ron's blue eyes were bugging out at the sight of the intimidating Potions Master with one kitten in an arm and the other draped over his shoulder. Harry's green eyes were equally wide at the sight of a Snape he had never seen before, those thin fingers holding the kitten with utmost gentleness, the cruel mouth uttering soft, reassuring noises.

Then Snape looked up and his face morphed back into his cold, expressionless mask.

"Where did you find them?"

"Ouutside, on the grounds."

"And what were you doing outside when you should already be in Gryffindor Tower?"

"I had dropped my dragonhide gloves, sir," Ron answered.

Black eyes flicked down to the old gloves clutched in Ron's fist and the thin lips twisted in derision.

"Those, Mr. Weasley? Are you sure you did not mistake them for Filch's cleaning rags?"

When Ron turned red, Harry quickly cut in. "I'm sorry, sir. We'll go now."

"I have not dismissed you, Mr. Potter. You were caught breaking a rule that was put in place to safeguard the students. I wonder what Professor McGonagall will say when she finds out that her precious Seeker has already lost points on his first night back?"

Harry felt his face turn red as well and gritted his teeth to avoid saying something he knew he would regret. This was the Snape he knew, not the look alike fussing over an injured kitten.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape announced, "and deten-"

"But we found your kittens!" Harry protested, his full stomach squirming and falling to the ground again at the thought of telling his fellow Gryffindors that he had lost points they hadn't even earned yet.

"That does not excuse you from going outside," Snape hissed, "and you did not go out to find them."

"But-"

"Meow!"

Snape's eyebrows went up and he looked down at the gray kitten. She seemed to be glaring up at him and so was the caramel coloured kitten on his shoulder.

"Shush. They were outside," he told them.

"Meowr!"

"And it is after curfew."

"Meowrr!" Velvet sounded adamant as she waved her injured paw in his face, Caramel meowing her agreement from his shoulder.

Snape glared at them and they glared right back. He sighed.

"Do not make me regret this," he said and looked up. The sight of Harry and Ron staring at him with eyes wide and mouths opened made him scowl.

"Go."

Harry and Ron gaped at him and traded disbelieving glances. Then they took a step to the side.

"Me-eooow?"

Snape's lips twisted again, this time looking as if he had just sucked on something sour.

"And ten points to Gryffindor for finding my kittens," he gritted out before his voice rose to a near shout. "Now, go!"

Harry and Ron fled, not needing to be told twice.

_End of flashback..._

"Mr. Potter."

Harry's head jerked up at once, startled green eyes first latching onto polished boots before going up long legs encased in black trousers leading up to narrow hips and a snowy white shirt. He gulped upon encountering those black eyes; Snape seemed so much taller when viewed from a crouched position on the floor.

"What are you waiting for? Bring them to the bathroom."

"Yes, sir." Harry stood up and looked around him, but the two kittens had vanished. "Uhm..."

A teasing little meow from the direction of the sofa had him turning to see Caramel's head peeping out from under it. It was followed by another meow coming from the direction of an open door where Velvet's head could be seen.

"I will get Caramel," Snape said in a long suffering voice. "You get Velvet. _Accio_ Caramel."

A startled yowl was followed by Caramel zooming out from under the sofa and landing in Snape's hand, her little stomach resting squarely on his palm. She looked up at him with a grumpy pout, four tiny paws and a tail dangling in midair.

Harry's lips twitched despite himself. He dived across the room causing Velvet to utter a squeak before disappearing.

Too late, Severus realised his mistake.

"Potter, wait! That's my bedroom!"

\- Chapter End -

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Worth continuing? Let me know :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes:** Hello again! Thank you for the alerts and favs, and for the wonderful reviews! As mentioned before, this is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's. She's the co-author of this story. Enjoy :)

**Warnings:** Two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

_"Potter, wait! That's my bedroom!"_

It was indeed. Harry found himself staring at a large four poster bed just a few feet in front of him, draped with green hangings that proclaimed its owner's House.

He was in Snape's bedroom!

_Snape's_ bedroom!

Snape's _bedroom!_

"What are you staring at?" Snape barked at him from the doorway. "Get Velvet and come out at once!"

Harry blinked, reminded of why he was in here in the first place. Two round golden eyes blinked back at him from a pool of gray on the green bedspread.

"Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation?"

"No, sir!" Harry rushed to the bed and bent down, scooping Velvet into his arms and holding her tightly against his chest in case she tried to escape. He turned back to see Snape's eyebrows shooting up and his mouth falling open before snapping shut.

Looking down, Harry realised two things.

One - the soft gray mass in his arms wasn't a kitten, but a man's shirt. Nightshirt, to be exact. Snape's nightshirt.

Two - it had evidently been worn before because it smelled - oh God! - like the man himself.

"Potter, what are you _doing?_" Snape sounded like he was being strangled.

Harry's head jerked up and he quickly yanked down his hand - stupid, traitorous limb! - that was pressing a gray sleeve to his nose. His face flushed red.

"Were you smelling that!" Snape thundered. He looked outraged, but his face had turned the same shade of red.

Before Harry could squeak out an indignant and completely untruthful 'Of course not!', Velvet's small head popped up from a fold of the nightshirt and looked from him to Snape and back again.

"Meee-oo-ww?" she uttered and tipped her head to one side, eyes sparkling as if getting Harry to hug Snape's nightshirt _and_ sniff it had been her idea all along.

"Velvet!" Harry exclaimed and Snape growled at the same time.

"Meow!" That was Caramel, leaping from Snape to Harry and landing on the same nightshirt. She wobbled a little as she turned around to face Velvet.

"Meow?" (_What?)_

"Meow." (_You got Harry to sniff Severus' nightshirt on purpose!)_

"Meow!" (_But of course!)_

"Meowr!" (_How dare you!)_

As the two kittens engaged in a baffling argument with glaring and meowing, Harry looked over their heads at Snape.

"Uhm," he began, but Snape held up a hand.

"Just bring them out," the Potions Master said in the same long suffering voice as before and when Harry took an automatic step forward, "but for Merlin's sake, put down my nightshirt first!"

"Oh! Right."

Blushing again, Harry turned back to the bed and deposited the nightshirt carefully on the mattress, taking the opportunity to snatch a final, surreptitious sniff. The two kittens immediately tumbled onto the bed, still meowing and baring their tiny teeth at one another. Caramel stayed at the side of the bed, but Velvet started backing away towards the headboard.

"Velvet, come here, girl," Harry coaxed.

She shook her head, giving him another mischievous look as she backed further away.

"Come _here_," Harry insisted, aware of Snape watching his every move from the doorway.

When Velvet took another step back, Harry gingerly put a knee on the edge of the mattress and lunged forward with his arms outstretched. Velvet jumped nimbly aside and he found his arms closing around something rectangular instead.

"Potter! That's my pillow!"

Almost purple with embarrassment, Harry turned his head to the side and found himself looking at Velvet's positively gleeful face, Snape's outraged one behind her. Then another face blocked both of theirs - a disgruntled Caramel was pushing her paw against Harry's chin, trying to lift his face up off the pillow.

"Meowr!" she scolded him.

"OK, OK. I'm getting up," Harry told her.

"Meowr!" Velvet pushed Caramel's paw down with a disapproving shake of her head as if deploring her friend's poor manners. She then turned to Harry and tilted her head invitingly towards Snape's pillow, looking gleeful again.

"Meow!" Caramel bumped against Velvet, trying to push her away, but the gray kitten stood her ground. And with that, the two of them started pushing and shoving at each other, tumbling off the pillow.

"Potter!"

Harry quickly released the pillow and pushed himself to sit up just as Caramel and Velvet disappeared off the side of the bed. He gulped, Snape was marching towards him, his face like a thundercloud.

"Potter, of all the dunderheaded things - get off my bed this instant! If the Headmaster gets to know about - agh - what-"

Snape looked down and lifted first one leg and then the other, looking as if he were doing some sort of weird dance. Two startled meows sounded from the floor, Snape's arms started windmilling and then he suddenly pitched forward.

Harry squeaked and threw himself to the side just in time - Snape landed face down beside him, his face buried in the same pillow Harry had been hugging earlier.

Argument forgotten, Caramel and Velvet immediately jumped back up on the bed and made their way to their master's head. Two tiny paws reached out in unison and patted the long black hair.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Snape turned his head to the side and glared at them through the curtain of his greasy hair, ignoring Harry for the moment.

"Give me one good reason why I should _not_ turn you two into potion ingredients," he muttered.

When Caramel and Velvet just meowed and patted his hair again, this time in a 'there there' manner, Snape buried his face in the pillow with a muffled groan.

Harry sat up again and grinned, enchanted by the sight. His grin disappeared when Snape suddenly pushed himself up, causing both kittens to stumble backwards in surprise and land in Harry's lap.

Sliding off the bed, Snape stood up and shook back his long hair. He looked down at Harry, his face a cold and expressionless mask once more.

"Bring them to the bathroom. _Now._"

\- o -

Harry had the foresight to remove his school robes, tossing them carelessly onto the back of an armchair before entering the bathroom near the main door, a kitten in each hand. A tub half filled with soapy water stood on the tiled floor and Snape was leaning against the opposite wall, arms folded across his chest. One black eyebrow rose at the sight of Harry's school shirt and trousers and the thin lips twisted in a sneer.

"It is just a simple bath, Potter. Surely you can manage that much with your robes on? Well, no matter. Put the kittens in the tub."

"Yes, sir."

Even as Harry crouched down, Caramel and Velvet twisted free of his hold and scooted up his arms. From his shoulders, they climbed onto his head, tiny claws digging in to keep their balance.

"Ouch, stop that! What are you do-" A sharper prick of claws digging into his scalp was followed by the sight of Caramel falling face down and spreadeagled into the tub, her deliberate belly flop creating a wave of warm, soapy water that drenched Harry's face and shirt.

"Caramel!" Gasping and coughing, he felt more more pinpricks in his scalp and squinted through his wet glasses to see a gray blur launching itself at Snape and landing on his chest.

"Velvet! You are supposed to take a bath!" Snape marched over to the tub, trying to pry a determined kitten off his shirt.

Smirking at the sight, Harry didn't see Caramel climbing out of the tub until she jumped up onto his knee, creating a wet patch on his trousers.

"Hey! What are you-" she had made it up to his shoulder, "no, don't you dare-" and his head, "do another div- argh!"

Harry sputtered as another wave of water hit him, drenching him again. A startled noise had him turning his head to see Snape crouched down beside him and looking equally wet. Green eyes widened as they took in the sight of soapsuds dripping off Snape's chin and the end of his nose before trailing down a long pale neck and white shirt, now rendered kittenless, clinging and transparent.

Harry's eyes widened further, but Snape quickly shot up into a standing position as if someone had lit a fire under him.

"You - stop gaping at me." That was directed at Harry. "You - into the tub." That was for Velvet who was now trying to hide behind it. "You - stay in there." That was for Caramel who was half climbing out of the tub in preparation for another dive.

The two kittens pouted where they were and Harry stood up uncertainly, trying not to stare at Snape's chest and failing miserably. Snape's arms jerked in a vague motion as if he wanted to shield himself from that fascinated stare, his face turning red again.

"The kittens, Potter!"

"Oh! Right."

Harry turned back to the tub where a pouting Velvet sat on her haunches beside it while inside, Caramel tread water and blew soap bubbles from her front paws.

"Alright, enough playing, you two," he muttered. It hadn't escaped his notice that Caramel seemed at home in the water while Velvet was afraid of it. He picked Velvet up with both hands and lowered her carefully into the tub.

The moment her tail touched the water, she gave a violent twitch and shot out of his hands with a yowl only to fall into the tub with a splash. Leaping out of the water, she clung to the side of the tub, front paws hooked over the edge and back paws and tail scrunched up under her. She glared up at Harry, blowing a long stream of soap bubbles out her tiny nose.

"Sorry!" Harry exclaimed, but his apology was drowned out by a triumphant meow. Still treading water, Caramel pointed a dripping paw at her unfortunate friend and let out a long, high pitched mewl that sounded like delighted snickering. She fell onto her back and sank below the soapsuds, leaving four tiny paws and a tail waving furiously in the air, signalling her amusement.

Sensing her chance to escape, Velvet scooted up the side of the tub, but Harry's quick eye caught her movement.

"Oh no, you don't," he said, his left hand shooting out to where she was. A larger hand knocked into his a second later, pressing his palm against the side of the tub - Snape apparently had had the same idea Harry had - and with a surprised mewl, Velvet tumbled backwards into the water.

Caramel had surfaced in time to see the whole incident. She let loose another long mewl of laughter, circling around Velvet who was treading water awkwardly while blowing more soap bubbles out of her nose. Hissing in annoyance, Velvet jumped onto her laughing friend and the resultant splash landed on Snape and Harry again.

When Harry tried to move his hand to wipe his face, he realised it was still trapped against the side of the tub.

"Uhm... sir? Could I have my hand back?"

Snape's scowl of realisation could have curdled milk. He snatched his hand back as if Harry's had burned him and stood up.

"Finish their bath as fast as you can," he ordered and spun around on his heel. The bathroom door closed firmly behind him.

In the sudden silence, Harry looked back at the kittens who had stopped trying to drown each other and were staring back up at him, small ears drooping at their master's sudden departure.

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one," Harry muttered. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when the rest of the bath ended without anymore incidents.

\- o -

When Harry emerged from the bathroom half an hour later with two clean and damp kittens in his arms, he saw Snape sitting in the armchair by the fire, reading a book. His school robes were neatly folded and placed on the coffee table.

Snape looked up, black eyes going from the towel dried kittens - their fur standing up in all directions - to the drenched schoolboy holding them. He put down his book and got up in one fluid motion, picking up Harry's robes before going over to him.

"Your detention has ended, Potter," he said coldly. "You may leave."

Harry nodded, reaching out a hand to take his robes and then he saw the dark gaze drop to his chest and stay there. A muscle twitched in Snape's jaw and he mouthed something, causing a wave of wonderful heat to flow over Harry, drying his hair, his clothes and the two kittens whose fur stuck up even more.

"Go."

Harry nodded.

"Goodnight, you two," he said softly and rubbed his cheek against the tops of Caramel and Velvet's heads, smiling when they meowed softly. "Be good now."

"Give them to me."

Harry handed the kittens over, his breath hitching when those long cool fingers brushed over his own, just like they had on his first night back.

"Goodnight, sir," he said, not expecting an answer and not receiving one.

Turning around, he opened the door and walked out, but the swath of golden light did not disappear, his shadow looming before him on the floor as he moved further and further away from Snape's quarters.

Just before he turned the corner, two tiny meows had him looking over his shoulder. Snape was already closing the door, but Harry caught a final glimpse of that tall, familiar outline of long hair and broad shoulders, the stern picture softened by two shapes on either shoulder, each topped with a small head and even smaller ears.

Smiling to himself, Harry rounded the corner and went up the stairs.

\- Chapter End -

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Notes:** Hello again! Thank you so much for the alerts, favs and wonderful reviews! A very happy birthday to our favourite boy wizard, Harry Potter, and enjoy this chapter :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

The following evening found Severus in his favourite armchair with a small glass of cherry liqueur in his hand. The drink was Minerva's gift to him last Christmas, a whimsical detour from her usual bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. Severus hadn't opened the tall slender bottle until now, suspecting it would be too sweet for his taste. He was right, but it seemed appropriate somehow to imbibe it while brooding over someone young enough to be - well, it seemed appropriate.

The drink, not the direction of his thoughts.

_Damnit_, Potter had no right to take up his precious free time, staying inside his head and distracting him like this! Huffing in exasperation, Severus took another gulp of the liqueur and grimaced.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

As if sensing their master's agitation, Caramel and Velvet abandoned their much abused ball of pale green yarn - now resembling a seasick Pygmy Puff that had just been given the fright of its life - and jumped up onto his lap. They made themselves comfy there, lying on their backs, wriggling and displaying half closed eyes, smiling mouths and little tummies just begging to be tickled.

Severus' lips quirked at this shameless display, but he set his glass down on the coffee table anyway. Indulging his two kittens was a pleasant activity that needed no thinking, leaving his mind free to linger on yesterday's bathing incident while Caramel and Velvet purred under his skilled fingertips, playfully batting at each other with tiny paws.

Yes, it was a mistake to call Potter to his quarters yesterday, Severus acknowledged to himself. It was meant to be a simple detention that would take care of a bothersome task and he _swore_ he had no idea who would earn it. Yet when he saw the shrivelfig Draco was aiming at Potter's cauldron, he had chosen to turn a blind eye.

Of course, Potter, being Potter, just _had_ to turn a simple kitten bathing detention into something much more. Fussing over Caramel and Velvet before dashing inside his bedroom (so what if he himself had told Potter to get Velvet!), hugging his old nightshirt and sniffing at it (he should have thrown that rag out years ago!) and then falling across his bed with his face buried in his pillow, no doubt sniffing at it too as he lay there.

Severus turned five different shades of red - including the dreaded rose pink - just thinking about that. And then _he_ himself had landed on his bed beside Potter! If the boy hadn't moved away... Severus ground his teeth and pushed down a tiny twinge of what felt unforgivably like regret. Granted, the whole thing was over in less than a minute and nothing happened and there were two four legged chaperones with them, but still...!

Exhaling loudly, Severus sat up straighter and squashed down the image of Potter cuddling his nightshirt with his nose buried in its sleeve. When another image popped up, he gnashed his teeth and squashed that one down as well. It was of Potter emerging from the bathroom in that clinging wet shirt - he might as well have not worn it - green eyes wide and guileless, cheeks pink from the steam...

Severus lurched forward and grabbed the glass on the coffee table, draining its contents in a single gulp. He grimaced at the taste, but poured himself another. He didn't see four curious eyes going from slitted satisfaction to rounded curiosity as they caught sight of the glass sailing overhead, Caramel and Velvet turning to watch its progression as it was put back on the coffee table and refilled.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Severus looked down and shook his head at the two expectant faces.

"Yes, it is a pretty colour and it is sweet, but it is also alcoholic. That means no. I will not have you two throwing up in my quarters," he told them sternly.

Leaning back, he closed his eyes, resolved not to call Potter to his quarters anymore even though his kittens liked him. It was too risky. He didn't see Caramel tilting her head at the glass while shooting Velvet a questioning look and Velvet giving an eager nod.

\- o -

"Severus! Severus, are you there?"

Severus bolted upright and blinked owlishly at the anxious face in the fireplace. A quick glance at the clock on the above mantelpiece told him he must have dozed off for about half an hour, it was almost nine now. Another glance down at his lap showed Caramel and Velvet lifting their heads to peer sleepily at the fireplace before shaking their heads and settling down again.

"Not now, ladies." Severus lifted them off his lap and put them on the floor, ignoring their squirming protests. He got up and brushed off a couple of cat hairs from his robes as he moved to the fireplace.

"What is it, Poppy?" he asked, crouching in front of the fire.

"I need more Fever Reducer, the strongest one you have. Miss Brown is still burning up and the two Creevey brothers have just arrived, also feverish and with the same purple spots on their necks. All three are scratching like mad!"

Severus pursed his lips and nodded. "I will get the maximum strength Fever Reducer and some numbing salve and come right through."

"Thank you, Severus. I'll be wait- stop scratching, Mr Creevey, you'll only spread the spots! No, not you, I meant your brother... alright, you too as well!"

Severus got up and _Accio'd_ the necessary items from his store cupboard before turning to his kittens, now curled up on his armchair. He made a mental note to _Vanish_ the hairs they would undoubtedly leave on the seat as soon as he returned. Merlin forbid that he should walk around the school with a... well, a furry behind.

"I should be back in a few minutes, Caramel, Velvet. I suggest you two toddle off to your basket if you don't want me accidentally sitting on you when I return."

The offhanded twitch of one of Velvet's ears was the only reply he got. Shaking his head, Severus saw the bottle of cherry liqueur and filled glass on the coffee table. He waved his wand, sending the bottle back to his liquor cupboard before turning back to the fireplace. He would drain his glass later when he returned, he decided as he tossed a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace.

"Hogwarts Infirmary!"

As soon as the emerald flames died down, two pairs of eyes opened and two heads turned to each other. Not in the least bit sleepy now, Caramel and Velvet jumped lightly onto the coffee table where a glass of ruby red, sweet smelling liquid beckoned.

For the next ten minutes, they enjoyed themselves, taking turns to dip small pink tongues into the pretty liquid and smacking their lips. It tasted delightful - sweet and fruity - and left _such_ a pleasant warmth in their little tummies. They lapped at the liqueur again and again, headbutting the other when two sly laps were taken instead of one.

By the time Caramel tipped the glass onto the side - purely by accident, of course - it was almost empty. The two kittens were starting to feel pleasantly muzzy and for some reason, couldn't seem to stop giggling.

"I don't think _-hic-_ Severus is going to be too pleased about this," Velvet observed in a slurred tone.

Caramel attempted a cavalier shrug and almost toppled over.

"What he doesn't know won't _-hic-_ hurt him," she declared in lofty tones, also slurred.

Velvet peered at the empty glass - for a moment, she thought she saw two of them - and then at her playmate. "Are you saying we shouldn't be here when he gets back?"

"That's exactly what I said," Caramel replied with a sage nod.

"You didn't say that at all," Velvet disagreed and turned to jump down from the coffee table, landing more heavily than usual. Strange, the floor was further down than it looked.

"Oof!" That was Caramel landing beside her, staggering sideways a bit.

The two kittens started walking towards the door which seemed both near and far. When they glanced at each other, they started giggling again at how much the other was swaying.

\- o -

Half an hour later, Severus and Poppy still weren't sure what the students had contracted, but it was finally under control after two doses of strong Fever Reducer and three applications of numbing salve apiece. Severus was just about to leave the Infirmary when three more Gryffindors trooped in, clad in their pyjamas and scratching away at their spotty necks. He helped to administer more Fever Reducer and ignored the relief he felt that Potter wasn't amongst them.

Hoping it wasn't the start of an epidemic in Gryffindor Tower, he wished Poppy goodnight and flooed back to his rooms. He stepped out of the fireplace and went to take a hot shower at once... just in case those spots were contagious. The sight of all that frantic scratching hadn't helped with his comfort level at all.

After drying off, he put on a clean nightshirt. It was dark green in colour, but still succeeded in turning his thoughts back to that dratted brat, his own earlier brooding and finally the glass of cherry liqueur he had left on the coffee table.

The first thing Severus saw when he went back out was that his glass was empty and surrounded by three suspicious drops of cherry coloured liquid. The second thing he noted was that his armchair was now devoid of kittens.

"Caramel? Velvet? Did you two..." Trailing off, he looked around and realised he hadn't seen or heard either of them since returning about ten minutes ago. "Caramel! Velvet! Come out from wherever you are at once!"

Nothing. Not a tail... or an ear... or even a teeny tiny meow.

Severus groaned, knowing he would have to go find two very possibly inebriated kittens or he would not sleep a wink tonight. Hoping they hadn't run into Mrs. Norris - they took great delight in tormenting the older feline - he took one step towards his bedroom to change his clothes when a tentative knock sounded at the door. Summoning his dressing gown from the bedroom, he shrugged into it before going over to yank open his door.

"Good evening, sir."

"Mr. Potter."

Straight out of his imagination and standing at his front door, only he was in his school uniform and not a transparent wet shirt. Severus folded his arms and glared down at him.

"Isn't it curfew already, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, but-"

"Me-oou-wr?"

"Me-oou-wr?"

Looking further down, Severus saw Caramel and Velvet cradled in Potter's arms. He hid the relief he felt as they happily waved up at him, sporting toothy smiles and glazed, somewhat crossed eyes.

"You two are in very serious trouble," he told them before glaring at Potter again.

"Where did you find them?"

"On the way back to Gryffindor Tower, sir."

"And why were you not inside your common room yet?"

"Ron, Hermione and I were on our way there from the library. We found a crowd of people blocking the way and... er... " Potter hesitated.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the two kittens who glanced at each other and suddenly decided Potter's fingers deserved their utmost, undivided attention.

"And what were Caramel and Velvet doing there?" he questioned in his most forbidding voice.

"Oh, nothing much. Just parading... eh, catwalking - heh, uh, I mean walking up and down."

Severus' eyebrow went higher. "Is that so?"

"Yes. I picked them up and brought them back here since... well, I was the only one they would allow to carry."

The unmistakable note of pride in Potter's voice drew Severus' eyebrows down into a ferocious scowl.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for breaking curfew," he said curtly.

Potter's green eyes went wide.

"But I brought them back to you!" he protested.

"I did not ask you to!" Severus snapped back. Really, did Potter expect a reward each time he found his errant kittens?

"Get back to your common room before I deduct another ten," he ordered. "You are breaking curfew as it is."

Looking indignant, Potter opened his mouth only to be interrupted again.

"Meowr!"

"Meowr!"

Severus looked down once more to see his two kittens glaring cross eyed up at him. The effect made his lips twitch.

"No," he told them. "Potter has broken curfew and you two are in enough trouble as it is."

Caramel and Velvet shook their heads adamantly, turning slightly green with the effort.

"Stop that. You two are in no shape to argue," Severus told them, but they meowed and stubbornly shook their heads again, turning greener still.

Closing his eyes, Severus sighed before looking at Potter who had no reason to look hopeful at all.

"Ten points to Gryffindor for finding my kittens," he muttered. "Now go before I change-"

Two ominous gurgling sounds made both of them look down, just in time to see Caramel and Velvet rear their heads and heave. Twin splotches of pink vomit appeared on Potter's school robes, a revolting combination of the grilled fish served at dinner, now half digested, and some incriminating cherry coloured liquid.

Severus took a couple of seconds to smirk at Potter who didn't look so smug now before drawing his wand and Vanishing the mess. He had to cast the spell a second time when Caramel and Velvet screwed up their little faces and barfed again. They then draped themselves over Potter's arms like wet laundry, shivering and mewling in a pitiful manner.

When Potter looked enquiringly up at him, nose still wrinkled from the sour smell in the air, Severus thinned his lips and cast a Freshening Charm.

"Hand them over now," he ordered.

Potter nodded and obligingly extended his arms. He winced when Caramel and Velvet meowed their protests, likely digging their tiny claws into him.

Severus exhaled. He was just about to grab his kittens, green faces or no, when the faint sound of approaching footsteps in the corridor outside made him freeze. As they grew louder and sounded nearer, he swore, grabbed hold of Potter's arm and yanked him inside before shutting the door. It was only when the locks clicked into place that he realised Potter was once again in his rooms.

At his behest. _Damnit!_

"I hope you have a Hangover Potion for Caramel and Velvet, sir," the brat had the cheek to inform him. "I don't think they're feeling too good right now."

Severus watched in disbelief as a pleased looking Potter walked towards his couch and sat down, cradling his two sick kittens like the precious things they were _not_ and looking like he wasn't going to go anywhere soon.

Oh. This was not good.

_To be continued..._

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Notes:** Hello again, thank you for the alerts, favs and wonderful reviews! Enjoy this chapter :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

**Mention:** A very happy birthday to **Schattengestalt** \- wonderful person, good friend and talented Snarry writer. I hope you have a wonderful celebration, my dear! *reminds Severus that he owes her a present*

\- Chapter Start -

Helping two kittens recover from their first hangover was not as simple a process as Harry had thought, nor a quick one as he had feared.

Snape did have some Hangover Potion on hand, but it was formulated for human adults and could only be administered to Caramel and Velvet in tiny doses. That meant exactly three drops each, dispensed from a rubber tipped dropper at ten minute intervals so as not to further stress tender little tummies.

Harry didn't mind the wait at all. It gave him a valid reason to remain in Snape's quarters sans the threat of detention since the two invalids refused to leave the comfortable crooks of his elbows, uttering loud querulous meows each time their master tried to lift them out.

With Caramel nestled in Harry's left arm and Velvet in Harry's right, Snape was forced to sit beside him on the sofa to administer the potion. As if the close proximity wasn't enough to make Harry's heart trip over itself, the Potions Master also had to bend very close to him to insert the dropper into the kittens' little mouths, long black hair brushing the backs of Harry's hands and once, his cheek. Harry inhaled carefully each time, pulling the man's scent deep into his lungs and ignoring the perplexed, suspicious glares that followed.

In the few minutes between one dose and the next, Snape ignored him in favour of tearing into the stack of essays he had summoned onto the coffee table, the almost vicious slashing of his quill and resultant spattering of red ink on one particular parchment making Harry pray it wasn't his. He sat there in uncharacteristic silence, feeling a little awkward, but content to turn his head right and left to take in the spartan furnishings around him while absently stroking Caramel and Velvet's little heads. The poor things looked utterly woebegone now, draped over his arms and uttering trembling, frail meows as if life could get no worse for them.

Harry had a sneaking suspicion they were milking every ounce of sympathy from him, but he indulged them all the same, uttering soft, soothing noises that made Snape grade those essays even more viciously than before. Still, Harry told himself it was a good thing Hermione had refused to let him or Ron to leave the library until the last possible minute.

_Flashback to an hour earlier..._

The three of them were amongst the last few students Madam Pince had to evict from the library, declaring she needed her sleep even if others didn't. It was only ten minutes to curfew then so everyone hurried off to their respective common rooms.

Harry, Ron and Hermione soon came upon a crowd of chattering students at the bottom of the sixth floor staircase leading up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Following the direction of the many pointing fingers, Harry spotted Caramel and Velvet walking along the stone balustrade of the seventh floor corridor. The sight of those two kittens gathering a crowd with their playful antics was no longer an uncommon sight after a month, but something seemed a bit... off tonight. Neither feline looked very steady on their paws and they were swaying a little.

"Caramel, Velvet," Harry called, pushing his way through the crowd. The two kittens turned to him and meowed, each lifting a front paw to wave a happy greeting to him and wobbling even more on three paws.

"You little rascals! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, get down from there!" The Fat Lady cried out, shaking a plump, beringed finger at the two felines. "You'll give me a heart attack one of these days!"

No one paid her any heed, certainly not the two felines who had reached the newel post connecting the balustrade to the left handrail of the staircase. The crowd, mostly Gryffindors, knew what was coming by now and took a step back in anticipation, someone's heel coming down painfully on Harry's right foot.

Carefully putting her two front paws on the handrail and then her back ones, Caramel allowed gravity to pull her forward and started sliding down the polished marble.

"Meeeeeeeeeeee-oooooooooo-uuuuuuuuuuu!" she sang out happily in a a 'Hey, look at me!' tone while three feet behind her, Velvet did the same.

"Caramel! Velvet!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation. He had seen them do this a few times before, but it never failed to make his heart lurch each time. They were so tiny and they were six floors up! He pulled his foot out from that someone's heel and pushed forward, instinct guiding his movements.

Not a moment too soon.

Caramel started listing to her right. One second she was whizzing down on her haunches with her green eyes glowing with mischief; the next, her back right paw had slid off the rail... and then her front right paw... and then her shocked face followed by the rest of her which wasn't very much to begin with.

Every Gryffindor watching in growing horror swore they would get nightmares for the next two months while in her portrait, the Fat Lady fainted clean away, landing with a solid thump on the stout chaise lounge painted behind her. Several wands whipped into sight and gaping mouths reshaped to voice cushioning or summoning charms, but Harry was faster, simply throwing himself against the left handrail and flinging his left arm out.

"Got you!" He snatched Caramel from midair just as she flew off into orbit, yowling in fright with her four limbs windmilling like crazy. There was another panicked screech as Velvet shot off the balustrade behind her. Harry twisted his upper body to the left, the joints in his spine popping as he caught Velvet with his right hand in a backhanded move.

For a moment, there was absolute silence... and then pandemonium erupted, rousing the Fat Lady from her swoon and several nearby portraits from their sleep.

"Yay! Go, Harry!"

"You saved Snape's familiars!"

"Merlin, that was scary!"

"Good show, Potter!"

The back slapping, cheers and laughter only died down when the Fat Lady - still bleating about nonexistent heart palpitations- swung to the side to allow two annoyed Gryffindor prefects to climb out. They started chivvying the excited Gryffindors inside the portrait hole and telling the other students to return to their respective common rooms at once.

By then, Caramel and Velvet had recovered from their scare and were happily nestled in Harry's arms. They nodded agreeably when he told them he was going return them to Snape. Despite Hermione's disapproving look combined with prediction of lost points for breaking curfew, Ron's incredulous look and prediction of nasty detentions for the same, Harry just smiled at them and set off for the dungeons.

_End of flashback..._

Almost an hour had gone by.

Caramel was the first to recover, climbing out from the cook of Harry's left elbow and stretching herself luxuriously on his lap as if awakening from a wonderful nap. She tapped Velvet's paw to get her attention and tipped her head to the side when the gray kitten just yawned and ignored her. She tapped Velvet's paw again.

"Meow?" (_What?)_

"Meow?" (_Aren't you feeling any better?)_

"Meow."_ (Only a little._)__

"Meow." _(Really? I feel great now! Trust our master to brew nothing but the best Hangover Potion! Tasted nasty though.)_

"Meowr." _(It does, but I don't mind if it means Harry gets to stay here a little longer.)_

"Meow?" _(What? Are you telling me you're pretending to still be sick? It's late and Harry has to go back to his dorm!)_

"Meo-" _(But he's enjoying himself here, I know it! I caught him sniffing Severus' hair each time...)_

"Meow!" _(He was not!)_

"Meow!" _(Was too!)_

"Meow!" _(Was not!)_

"Meow!" _(Too!)_

"Meow!" _(Not!)_

Green eyes glared at golden and they glared right back.

"Meow!" _(In any case, They don't belong together!)_

"Meow!" _(Yes, they do!)_

Harry looked down in bewilderment as the two kittens' meows grew in both volume and annoyance, and they started glaring at each other. He looked up to see Snape, quill held in one hand, looking at his kittens with one eyebrow raised.

"What is the matter now, ladies?"

Both kittens immediately stopped quarreling and looked at him and then at Harry. Caramel sniffed and went to sit on Harry's left knee, pouting, while Velvet snuggled even deeper into Harry's arms, looking smug.

Snape sighed and put down his quill.

"Well, it looks like you two have recovered," he observed. He glanced at the clock on the mantlepiece and shot to his feet.

"Merlin, it's eleven already! Up you get, Potter!"

Harry blinked and glanced at the clock as well. By the time he stood up with a kitten in each hand, Snape had swept to the door of his quarters - imposing even in his dressing gown - and was standing there with a dismissive look on his face.

With reluctant steps, Harry rounded the sofa and went to him.

"Hand them over," Snape said for the third time tonight.

Harry nodded, wishing he was still ensconced on the comfortable sofa in front of the blazing fire. He held out his hands on which Caramel and Velvet sat like twin offerings on his cupped palms, tails hanging over his thumbs.

He told himself he _wasn't_ looking forward to having Snape take the two kittens from him.

He _wasn't_ looking forward to feeling those long pale fingers brush over his own.

And he wasn't in the _least_ bit disappointed when Caramel leapt up to Snape's shoulder and wobbled around to watch from her vantage point. Velvet immediately took the opportunity to sprawl listlessly across Harry's palms as if lacking the energy to make that small jump. Her action wasn't lost on Snape who pressed his lips together.

Mentally thanking Velvet, Harry held his breath as the Potions Master stepped closer to him. The feel of those cool fingertips and short fingernails gliding over his palms to curl under Velvet caused a delightful shiver to course from his hands, up his arms, and all the way down to his toes, scrunched up tight inside his shoes. He thought his gasp was soundless, but sharp black eyes cut to him and then Snape scowled and snatched up a seemingly boneless Velvet.

When a cross looking Caramel meowed to her, Velvet meowed smugly back. Snape plucked Caramel off his shoulder and held her in his other palm, looking at the mini hissing spat happening before him with a baffled frown.

Harry fisted his slightly trembling hands by his sides, squashing down a nonsensical wish of not wanting to wash them for the next day or so.

"Get back to your common room now, Potter," Snape ordered. "I have a good mind to deduc-"

At once, Caramel and Velvet stopped hissing at each other and glared up at him, shaking their heads. Snape glared back, ignoring Potter's surprised smile. The staring contest went on for almost half a minute before Snape sighed and shook his head.

"You two will be the death of me one day," he bit out and transferred his glare to Potter. "Go before I change my mind."

"Yes, sir. Er... goodnight."

Not expecting an answer again, Harry opened the door and stepped out. The corridor outside was drafty and cold and he gave a sudden, almost violent shiver. He scratched absently at his neck, digging his fingers past his robe and shirt collar. He had never been allergic to cats, but for some reason...

"What's wrong with your neck?" Snape barked behind him.

Harry turned around, still scratching. "It's itchy all of a sudden. I don't know why."

"Get back here, close the door and remove your robes," Snape ordered. Sitting on his right shoulder, Caramel looked absolutely shocked while on his left shoulder, Velvet looked utterly delighted.

Harry just blinked, green eyes widening. "What?"

"I said, get back in here and take off your robes!"

Harry gaped up at him, his mouth a perfect 'o' of shock as he wondered if he were hallucinating. _"What?"_

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" For the second time tonight, Snape grabbed his arm and pulled him inside before pushing the door shut. "Now - disrobe!"

Gulping, Harry started to unbutton his robe. He was torn between nervousness and excitement, his mind gibbering at him and his fingers fumbling at the mind boggling implication of Snape's order.

"Hurry up, Potter, I haven't got all night!" Snape growled, looking as if he were forcibly holding back from completing the task himself. As soon as Harry had unbuttoned his robe and the top two buttons of his school shirt, Snape pushed his hands aside and yanked apart his collar with unnecessary force, popping the third button and making Harry squeak in surprise.

Caramel and Velvet both squeaked as well, almost tumbling right off Snape's shoulders at his unexpected action.

"Damnit!" Snape snarled as the two kittens' eyes went round in belated realisation.

_"What?"_ Harry asked for the third time. His neck was now unbearably itchy and he couldn't seem to stop shivering. His breath hitched when the Potions Master took another step closer and pressed the back of one cool hand to his forehead.

"You are burning up," Snape finally said, looking both vexed and resigned. "And don't scratch your neck anymore, Potter, you will only spread the spots."

_To be continued..._

**A/N:** Oh, why does every small story I write turn out to be multi-chaptered?! Anyway, thank you for reading... please review?


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Notes:** Hello! Thank you for the alerts, favs and wonderful reviews. Enjoy this next chapter :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

Severus wasn't in the least bit surprised when Potter just blinked at him.

"Spots?"

"Spots," Severus confirmed. "Stop scratching."

"What kind of spots?"

"Purple ones. Stop scratching."

"Are they contagious?"

"Most likely. Stop scratching!"

"I can't, my neck's itching like _crazy!_"

"I will put you in a full body bind if you don't stop this instant!"

They glared at each other then, Severus with his arms folded across his chest and Potter still with one hand at his neck. Severus could tell the two kittens on his shoulders had leaned backwards - each were pulling on one of his ears - and were likely exchanging looks behind his head.

Potter's green eyes shifted to the right and left, cementing his suspicions, and then their mutinous glare softened. He shrugged and lowered his hand. "I'll try."

Severus gave a curt nod. He had no intention of letting Potter stay in his quarters a minute longer, but he had to make sure the boy didn't scratch his neck raw before he could get to the Infirmary. He didn't want to look too closely at the reason for that.

"I will give you something to apply before you go to Madam Pomfrey. Wait here."

Sweeping to his store cupboard, Severus pursed his lips when he saw he was down to his last jar of Numbing Salve. It was a large jar, the same size as the one he had given Poppy earlier, but he made a note to brew another batch tonight. Merlin knew how many more Gryffindors would be infected by tomorrow morning. He picked up the jar as well as a vial of Fever Reducer and turned around.

Potter was no longer standing by the door.

"Meow."

Following the direction of little paws pushing against his cheek, Severus turned his head and narrowed his eyes when he saw the brat had made himself comfortable on his sofa once more. He stalked over to him with a scathing 'I did _not_ give you permission to sit down, Potter!' dancing on the tip of his tongue. Before he could utter those words, Caramel and Velvet - curious little things that they were - jumped off his shoulders and landed neatly in Potter's lap. They stretched up to peer at his neck as they meowed their concern, tiny paws resting on his chest.

"I'll be fine," Potter told them tightly, hands fisted by his sides in an obvious attempt to stop scratching. "I just don't know how I got these spots."

Severus stopped by the sofa and opened the jar of salve, scooping up some of the thick white cream with a small spatula.

"Caramel, Velvet, get down. You two are in the way," he told the kittens before handing the spatula to Potter, keeping his expression neutral when their fingers touched.

"Apply this on your neck. It should numb the itching."

"Yes, sir."

"I said _apply_ it, Potter, not scratch it in."

"I - OK."

"You are still scratching."

"I can't help it!"

"You must. That salve cannot to be used on an open wound."

"Meow." _(Listen to Severus, Harry.)_

"Meow!" _(No, Harry. Scratch it, scratch it!)_

"Meow!" _(He's not supposed to, Caramel!)_

"Meoooooow!" _(But scratching an itch feels goooood!)_

"Meow!" _(He's not a cat!)_

"Meow!" _(It doesn't matter!)_

Severus shook his head at the animated discussion and looked back at Potter only to find him happily scoring his neck with the side of the spatula, angry red lines appearing amidst the purple spots.

"I told you no scratching," he growled. "Of all the dunderheaded -" Grabbing Potter's wrist with one hand, he wrested the spatula away with the other. "I will do it!"

The two kittens immediately stopped meowing and stared up at him, Caramel with a disapproving look and Velvet with an excited one. Potter just gaped up at him as if he had been asked to strip naked.

"W-what?"

Severus could feel a muscle twitching at the side of his tightly clenched jaw. It was only because Potter could not stop scratching to save his life, he told himself. That and the fact that the brat was in his quarters now and therefore his responsibility. Nothing else. No other reason either.

"Tip your head back," he ordered.

Still looking rather stunned, Potter tipped his chin up and swallowed. The sight of that Adam's apple bobbing up and down that long neck made Severus thankful the skin was now marred with purple spots, red scratches and white cream. Otherwise, he might be tempted to lean further down and -

Squashing that thought, he bent down to apply the salve in long and even strokes, ignoring Potter's shallow breathing. When Caramel and Velvet stretched up on their hind legs again to take a closer look, he stopped and glared at them.

"Get down if you don't want your noses to turn numb."

Pouting, they settled down in Potter's lap again. Severus noted the boy's hands were still tightly fisted by his sides.

"Does your neck still itch?"

At the frantic nod, he applied a second layer of cream, taking note of the faint stubble on Potter's chin.

"How about now?"

At the hesitant nod, he applied a third layer, conscious of the swift rise and fall of Potter's chest.

"That should do it. No, do not touch your neck."

Potter lowered his hand and inhaled deeply before Severus could straighten up. He let it out on a long slow sigh, lips quirking in a tiny smile of relief.

"Thank you, sir."

Severus ignored both the smile and the thanks. He thrust out the vial instead.

"Fever Reducer."

Potter uncorked the vial and drank it down, making a face at the unpleasant taste. As soon as he handed it back to Severus, Caramel and Velvet climbed into his arms and started purring.

"No, he is not staying here a second longer," Severus told them and jerked his head at the door. "Off to the Infirmary, Potter. I will floo call Madam Pomfrey and tell her to expect you."

Without waiting for a reply, he moved over to the fireplace, the fingers of his free hand digging inside the neck of his dressing gown.

"Sir?"

Severus glanced over his shoulder to see Potter looking at him with a quizzical frown on his face.

"What?" he snapped.

"Your neck... you're scratching at it."

\- o -

_Fifteen minutes later..._

"Me-oo-ww..." _(Severus and Harry...)_

"Meow!" _(Not again, Velvet!)_

"Me-oo-ww..." _(Lying in a bed...)_

"Meow!" _(It's 'beds', not 'bed'!)_

"M-e-e-o-" _(K-I-S-S-)_

"Meowr!" _(They are _not_ kissing! Not now and not ever!)_

"Ladies, please," Severus groaned to the two kittens standing on his chest and glaring at each other. His bed at the far corner of the Infirmary was curtained off to afford some privacy, but Poppy hadn't cast any silencing spells before confiscating his and Potter's wands. She was sure to appear at any moment to-

Right on cue, the curtains at the foot of his bed were yanked aside and there she was, complete with annoyed frown, pursed lips and hands on hips.

"Severus, really! No familiars in my Infirmary and that includes yours!" Picking up a hissing kitten in each hand, Poppy disappeared, leaving behind a two foot gap in the curtains and an expectant hush from the other patients.

Raising his head up off the pillow, Severus found himself looking at the Creevey brothers in the two beds opposite him, staring at him in somewhat terrified fascination. In the next moment, their faces were blocked by Potter's contrite one as he gently pulled the curtains closed.

Severus lay back down, scowling as the next bed creaked as if someone had climbed onto it. This was all Potter's fault, he fumed to himself.

\- o -

Caramel and Velvet meowed and struggled as they found themselves swiftly carried out of the Infirmary by the scruffs of their necks. Their struggles were in vain, tiny paws paddling fruitlessly in midair.

"Now, you two can choose to wait here or at your master's quarters, but not a paw inside my Infirmary. Is that understood?"

With that stern admonishment, they were dropped onto the floor of the corridor, quite without ceremony. They stared at each other for a moment and spun around only to see the double doors closing.

"Meow!" _(She's closing the doors!)_

"Meow!" _(Quickly!)_

Too late. The doors shut with a definite, no nonsense click, and the two kittens bounced off it. They ended up on their haunches, rubbing their bumped noses and pouting at each other.

"Meow!" _(We're too late!)_

"Meow." _(Now we can't take care of Severus.)_

"Meow." _(Or Harry.)_

"Meow?" _(Let's wait here. Someone is bound to come along sooner or later, right?)_

"Meow!" _(That's a good idea, Caramel!)_

With resolute nods, the two kittens settled down to wait.

_To be continued..._

**A/N: **Thank you for reading! Please review?


	6. Chapter 6

**Author Notes:** Hello again, thank you for reading and reviewing! Enjoy this next chapter :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

_The next morning..._

The slight weight on Harry's stomach told him he had fallen asleep reading Quidditch Through the Ages yet again. His dorm mates had grown used to seeing him like this every night over the past month, but none of them knew it was to keep him from thinking of Snape. And that it didn't always work.

Taking a deep breath, Harry let it out. The book shifted and started walking up his chest, stopping just shy of his collarbones.

"Meow," it said.

Harry's eyes snapped open. The sight of two round golden eyes peering at him from close range made him blink.

"Velvet? What are you doing in my room? What time is it?"

The gray kitten ignored his questions in favour of jumping down from his chest and stepping up onto his pillow. She put a paw on his forehead and wrinkled her own as if trying to determine his temperature.

"I'm fine," Harry assured her before glancing around, the blurry white shapes and absence of red curtains making him sigh. He didn't need his glasses to know he wasn't in his dorm, but in the Hogwarts Infirmary instead. As last night's events came back to him, he arched his neck, trying to peer past Velvet's head to look at the next bed.

"Is Snape still here? Did he let you in? Where's Caramel?"

Velvet obligingly stepped off the pillow, her eyes sparkling with mischief. The curtains around the next bed had been drawn back and Harry's traitorous heart skipped a beat - there was no mistaking the distinctive profile or nose of the person sleeping there, however blurry his vision was.

Leaning up on one elbow, he groped for his glasses on the bedside table and put them on. Snape came into glorious sharp focus at once, lying on his back with his mouth slightly open, blanket covering him up to his waist. Caramel was curled up on his chest, eyes closed and head resting on her front paws, her small body rising and falling with each breath Snape took.

Harry couldn't help grinning at the sight, enchanted all over again. Snape was wearing an Infirmary issued hospital gown, his neck covered with a layer of thick white cream. Putting a hand to his own neck, Harry encountered the same substance. He absently wiped his fingers off on his own hospital gown, recalling how the single button at the back meant a draft around his bare bottom each time he went to the bathroom.

Ooh, perhaps Snape would need to go to the bathroom once he awoke?

Harry squashed down the thought as soon as it materialised in his mind, embarrassed and vexed over his stupid crush on the Potions Master.

"Meow?" Caramel had opened one green eye which was now looking enquiringly at him.

"Oh, hello, Caramel," Harry whispered, not wanting Snape to wake up just yet.

Caramel hopped down from Snape's chest and went to stand beside his pillow, blocking his face from Harry's rapt gaze.

"Meow," she said in a cross tone and shook her head.

Shaking _her_ head, Velvet leapt onto Snape's bed and tried to push Caramel aside. That immediately started a silent pushing and headbutting round, one which made the long frame under the blanket shift and a long suffering sigh to sound.

"Ladies, please."

The two kittens immediately stopped pushing and turned to him, ears raised.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

"I am fine, thank you for asking. Now, how did you two get past Poppy?"

Uttering happy little meows, the two kittens moved closer and started patting his face. The sound of a deep chuckle made Harry's grin reappear and it was still on his face when Caramel and Velvet moved back.

Both Snape and Harry found themselves staring at each other, the former with soft black eyes and smiling lips; the latter with a big goofy grin. Then both smiles disappeared, replaced by startled wariness.

"Good morning, sir," Harry said, trying to sound as if waking up in the bed next to his Potions professor was an everyday occurrence.

"Did you pull open my bed curtain?" Snape demanded, ignoring his greeting.

Harry shook his head at once. "No, sir."

Snape's eyes narrowed at him before his head snapped back to Caramel and Velvet. They were studying the close knit pattern of their master's blanket as if their nine lives depended on it, almost cross eyed with how close their tiny noses were to the cloth.

"You two are going to be the death of me," Snape informed them in no uncertain terms.

Two pairs of sly eyes peeked up at him and then at each other. Deciding that this was as empty a threat as the numerous ones before it, their owners settled down again. Velvet looked content, but Caramel took one look at the expression on Harry's face and marched up to Snape's pillow once more. She grabbed a mouthful of curtain and started pulling it towards the foot of the bed, blocking Snape's face from view.

"Meow!" Velvet jumped up and hurried to her. She grabbed her own mouthful of curtain and pulled in the opposite direction, stopping Caramel in her tracks.

"Caramel, Velvet, what are you two doing?" Snape's voice sounded bewildered behind the curtain.

"Meomf!" Caramel started walking backwards as she pulled, her back paws stepping onto Snape's blanket. The curtain slid a few more inches, now hiding Snape's head and chest from Harry's sight.

"Meomff!" Velvet gave an even harder tug, pulling Caramel and the curtain until Harry could see Snape and his baffled expression before Caramel managed to dig in her paws.

"Stop this at once, both of you!" Propping himself up on one arm, Snape grabbed the curtain with his free hand and tried to free the abused cloth from sharp little teeth. "Let go at once!"

"Meomff!" Caramel shook her head and pulled even harder.

"Meomffffff!" Shaking her head as well, Velvet gave an almighty tug that created a series of long vertical rips in the curtain and finally succeeded in making Caramel lose both her grip and her balance. The caramel coloured kitten hissed, letting go of the curtain as she skidded right to the edge of Snape's bed, pulling his blanket half off him.

"What the-"

As Snape hurriedly released the curtain to snatch at his slipping blanket, Velvet gave another huge tug and that was it - Caramel tumbled right off the bed, yowling fit to raise the dead. Her little rump caught Velvet off guard and knocked her off the bed as well. With a loud riiiiiiiiiippp, the curtain parted way with the hooks at the top and fell on top of the kittens, Snape's blanket following a scant second later.

Both Snape and Harry leaned over the sides of their respective beds, narrowly avoiding hitting their heads together. They stared down at the struggling material on the floor, muffled and indignant meows coming from under it.

"Serves you two right," Snape declared. His head snapped up when Harry chuckled and then they were staring at each other, amused eyes giving way to awkward wariness once again.

Harry looked away first and froze, his attention caught by a hospital gown pulled askew. One of Snape's legs was exposed - a long limb made up of a slender thigh, a bony knee and a skinny calf, on which a scar was visible.

"Potter! Are you looking at my leg!"

Harry's fascinated gaze swung back to Snape's face whose thunderous expression contrasted sharply with his red cheeks. Before Harry could squeak out an untruthful denial, the series of muffled meows from under the curtain and blanket escalated and then both material were racing out from between their beds, propelled along the Infirmary floor by eight frantic paws.

"Oh, merciful Merlin!"

Harry and Snape winced as Madam Pomfrey's startled exclamation was followed by the sound of breaking glass and a loud thump. Two seconds later, a large jar rolled into the space between their beds, sporting a dent at the bottom and a label proclaiming it to be 'Numbing Salve' in Snape's spidery handwriting.

"Hmph!" Snape bolted upright and tugged his hospital gown straight. "It's the cauldron for them the next time they pull a stunt like this."

Turning away, Harry saw two impish faces peeking out from under the blanket on the floor and grinned. He knew just as well as Caramel and Velvet did that they had nothing to fear from their master.

\- o -

_Half an hour later..._

Madam Pomfrey released Snape and Harry - her last two patients - after making sure they were both free from fever and purple spots. Professor McGonagall had brought the Weasley twins to her a few minutes ago where the guilty pair confessed to accidentally releasing a purple liquid of their own creation in the Gryffindor common room yesterday evening. One of its key ingredients was the African Lilac orchid which had an extremely itchy purple powder on their petals.

The good news was, its effect would last no longer than eight hours and had no permanent effects. The bad news was, McGonagall had deducted twenty points from Gryffindor and an annoyed Snape had issued the twins a detention they would remember all their lives before storming off to the Infirmary bathroom to change into his teaching robes. Too bad for Harry that Madam Pomfrey had chosen that time to pull the curtains around his bed closed to give him a final check up.

Dressed once more in his school uniform, Harry sat on his bed with Caramel and Velvet in his arms, waiting for Snape to come out of the bathroom. The swift booted steps made him look up to find Snape standing at the foot of his bed, back to his usual dour self.

"Hand them over, Potter."

Almost smiling at the familiar command, Harry slid off the bed and went to Snape. He wasn't surprised when Caramel leapt to her master's hand at once while Velvet waited to be carried. It was only at a raised eyebrow from her master that the gray kitten pouted and jumped to his other hand.

"Meow."

"Meow."

Harry smiled as both kittens held their front paws out to him in unison. Ignoring Snape's glower, he reached out and brushed the tops of their heads with gentle fingertips, smiling when they batted playfully at his hand.

"No more liquor, alright?" he said softly, alluding to last night's incident. "You had us both worried last night."

"I was _not_ worried, Potter," Snape snapped. "Merely annoyed and inconvenienced."

"Of course, sir," Harry said, giving the kittens a conspiratorial wink.

Snape looked even more sour at that, jerking his head at the Infirmary doors in a clear dismissal.

Nodding, Harry turned on his heel and walked out with a smile on his face. He had never enjoyed staying in the Infirmary, but he had to admit this particular stay was bearable, thanks to Caramel and Velvet. Perhaps even... enjoyable.

\- Chapter End -

**A/N: **Thank you for reading! Please review?


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Notes:** Hello and Seasons Greetings to one and all! It's been some time since the last chapter of this story so my daughter and I thought we would do a Christmas themed one. Enjoy more sheenanigans from the furry duo :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

It was the morning of Christmas Eve.

Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts even though Hermione, their other friends and most of the student body had already left for the Christmas holidays three days ago. The Weasleys were in Romania to visit Charlie who couldn't get time off. Ginny had gone with them, but Ron opted to stay behind with Harry and the two of them would leave for the Burrow after lunch.

"Feels quiet without Hermione around," Ron remarked as they came back inside from visiting Hagrid to wish him a Merry Christmas.

Harry nodded, hiding a grin at the redhead's overly casual tone. He rubbed his cold hands together before shoving them inside his trouser pockets.

"Hey, I know - let's go for a fly around the Quidditch pitch," Ron suggested. "We can work up an appetite for lunch!"

Harry let his grin show. "Sounds good, Ron, but my hands are freezing. I forgot to wear my gloves."

"I'll go get our brooms and your gloves now," Ron offered and started jogging off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. "Don't go anywhere!" he called over his shoulder.

"Alright." Harry pushed his hands deeper inside his pockets and moved further away from the entrance.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Even before he turned around, Harry felt a smile tug at his lips, knowing exactly who those two high pitched mewls belong to. Sure enough, two small and impish faces were peeping at him from inside the Great Hall. He went over to them and crouched down, grinning when the two kittens immediately jumped up into his lap, meowing happily as if greeting a long lost friend. Harry stroked their small heads and ears and chuckled when they tried to catch his fingertips between their tiny paws.

"Did Snape chase you two out of his lab again?" he asked, a wistful tone creeping into his voice. "Don't tell me he's going to spend the entire Christmas holidays hiding in his lab and brewing potions."

Ever since the Infirmary incident more than a month ago, Snape hadn't issued him any detentions, not even to prepare horrid ingredients. It hadn't stopped Harry from mooning after him despite his best efforts not to. Right this second, the colourful and loud festivities that awaited him at the Burrow didn't seem as inviting as it usually did...

Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Caramel leapt down from his lap and walked inside the Great Hall. She stopped and turned her head, tilting it in invitation.

"Meow."

Velvet quickly followed suit and turned to look at Harry as well, her golden eyes sparkling as she issued the same silent invitation.

Harry smiled and got to his feet. He glanced down the corridor, but Ron was nowhere to be seen so he stepped inside the Great Hall, figuring his friend would look for him there if he couldn't find him.

\- o -

Velvet sighed as she caught up with Caramel.

"Harry is here and alone _right now._ If only Madam Pomfrey didn't need more Fever Reducer."

Suspicious green eyes narrowed at her.

"You're still trying to get him and Severus together?" Caramel accused.

"Of course! they're so Made For Each Other," Velvet said with a dreamy sigh.

"Are not!" Caramel insisted.

"Are too! M-F-E-O!"

Harry trotted behind them, his eyebrows going up. Caramel and Velvet got along really well with each other, but their occasional arguments were baffling to say the least. What could two little kittens possibly have to argue about?

"Are not!"

"Are too! M-F-E-O!"

Caramel's eyes narrowed further and she turned to face her friend, planting her tiny forepaws apart.

"If you say that one more time," she warned. "I shall - I shall..."

"M-F-E-Oooooooooooo!"

"That's it! You're going down, Velvet!"

Giggling, the gray kitten ran off, followed by Caramel in hot pursuit.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Harry called.

Velvet headed straight for the nearest of the twelve huge Christmas trees decorating the Hall. She leapt onto the pot containing the tree and up onto the lowest branch. Caramel did the same.

"Caramel! Velvet! Get back here!" Harry ordered.

He might as well have saved his breath. Caramel and Velvet didn't appear to have heard him at all, following the wondrous, winding path of silver ribbon that wound itself around and around the tree, up and up. Ornaments started tumbling from the green branches, bouncing on cushioning charms cast on the stone floor and rolling in all directions before coming to gentle stops.

Shaking his head in amused exasperation, Harry took a step back, tipping his head up to follow the progress of the kittens as they went higher and higher. They were about to run out of branches and ribbon, he noted.

True enough, Velvet soon saw the enormous golden star at the very top of the tree and skidded to a hasty stop. Meowing in surprise, she clung to one side of the star. Caramel reached her a moment later, flailing madly for a moment before her two forepaws caught the other side of the star. By then, there was a little angel strung around Velvet's waist while a golden ball bobbed from Caramel's tail.

"Meoww!"

"Meoww!"

Still hissing in annoyance, Caramel tried to hit Velvet who ducked and hissed back at her.

Harry shook his head. It was no wonder Snape threatened his two pets with a potions fate all the time; they were incorrigible!

"Alright, stop arguing and come down at once before you fall down!" he told them, holding out his arms. "Jump, I'll catch you!"

Caramel and Velvet blinked and turned to glance down at him before looking around the Great Hall. Their round eyes widened and they whipped back to each other as if finally realising where they were.

"Meow?" _(Velvet?)_

"Meow?" _(Yes, Caramel?)_

"Meow?" _(Are we at the very top of the tree?)_

"Meow. _(Yup.)_

"Meow?" _(One of the enormous and very tall Christmas trees in the Great Hall?)_

"Meow. _(Yup.)_

"Me-ow!" _(But I'm scared of heights!)_

"Me-ow?" _(We've been higher up than this before, remember?)_

"Meow?" _(But not up a tree! Wait - do you hear that creaking sound?)_

"Meow." _(Oh. Uhm, I think the tree is swaying.)_

"Meow!" _(Oh no!)_

"Meow!" _(Oh yes!)_

Harry had come to the same realisation at the same time. The creaking grew louder and the tree started to tilt sideways, leaning towards him.

"Jump. Quickly now!" he urged Caramel and Velvet who were still looking down at him with huge eyes, clinging to their respective sides of the star with all eight limbs and two tails.

"Meoooooooooooooooooowwwwwww!" _  
_

"Meoooooooooooooooooowwwwwww!" _  
_

"Potter!" A deep and familiar voice roared from behind Harry. "Get away from there!"

Relief flooded Harry at Snape's voice (of course it was him, no one else in the castle had a voice like deep, rich and furious dark chocolate), but his eyes remained on the two terrified kittens.

"Jump!" he called again.

With high pitched, panicked mewls, Caramel and Velvet finally abandoned ship and leapt for the safety of his arms. He caught them against his chest and took a few swift steps back. His right foot came down on one of the fallen tree ornaments - a golden sleigh - and shot out in front of him, causing him to land squarely on his arse.

"Ow..."

"Of all the dunderheaded - _Arresto momentum!_"

The tree's descent slowed down and hurried footsteps sounded behind Harry. Two hands slid under his armpits and hauled him backwards along the floor without ceremony.

"Hey!" Harry found himself sliding along on his bottom, unable to use his hands since he was still clutching the kittens. When his back thumped against two lean thighs, there was an 'Oof' and Snape stumbled and fell behind him; long, black clad legs appearing on either side of Harry's.

The huge tree fell to the floor with a resounding _flump!_ and slid forward a few feet, scattering pine needles and more ornaments. Its topmost branches ended up between Harry's legs with the topmost and very sharp point of the golden star a scant inch from his groin.

For a long, long moment, no one moved in the pine scented air, not even Caramel or Velvet who had turned their heads to stare down at the star and then at each other, their eyes still huge and round.

Now that the danger was past, Harry was suddenly aware of the solid body behind him and the harsh rasp of breath stirring the hair on top of his head. As soon as the two hands slid from his sides, he jerked around, hands going out to keep his balance, green eyes wide and glasses askew on his nose.

Snape was staring back at him, a few strands of his long hair lying across his cheek, his sallow complexion paler than normal. He blinked and glanced down at the kittens and then up at Harry again.

"Are you alright?" he asked at last.

It was truly the most considerate three words Harry had _ever_ heard fall from those thin lips. He gulped and saw those dark eyes dart immediately to his throat.

"Yeah," he said, his voice hoarse. "I - thank you."

"Meow?"

"Meoow!"

Looking down, Harry realised that, one, he was leaning against Snape's chest; two, his palms were flat against that same chest; three, Snape's heart was racing as fast as his; and four, a grumpy Caramel and a hopeful Velvet were being squashed between the two of them.

"Oh, sorry!" Harry exclaimed and jerked back so suddenly, he almost toppled right off Snape's lap, arms flailing.

Snape's hands whipped out to grip his shoulders. He gave him a single hard shake before releasing him, his expression morphing back to the cold mask Harry was familiar with.

"You, Potter, will be the death of me!" he hissed. Looking down, his scowl deepened.

Harry righted his glasses and looked down as well to see Caramel and Velvet creeping headfirst inside the opening of his robes, leaving only their rumps and tails visible. When he looked back up, Snape had folded his arms and was glaring down at the tails.

"I hope you two now realise the serious danger you have put yourselves and Potter in," he scolded.

Caramel and Velvet crept deeper inside Harry's robes and two very soft and contrite 'Meows' sounded.

"It's alright, I'm fine," Harry said softly, ignoring his rather tender bottom. He reached inside his robes to pet the two kittens trembling against his jumper.

"Thanks to me," Snape snapped.

"Thanks to you," Harry agreed with a small smile.

Snape scowled at him.

"Get _off_ my lap, Potter, before someone walks in and sees us like this!"

"Oh, right!"

As soon as Harry slid off, Snape shot to his feet, shaking back his hair and brushing down his long robes. He didn't offer a hand to Harry who had already expected that and scrambled to his feet unaided. Caramel and Velvet - still looking remarkably contrite - climbed up to Harry's shoulders, still not quite daring to look at the Potions Master.

"Hand them over," Snape ordered, holding out his hands.

Biting back a smile, Harry plucked Caramel off his right shoulder and placed her in Snape's left hand, fingernails gliding across Snape's palm. The black eyes cut to his face at once and Caramel sat up with a pout, but Harry didn't care. Snape hadn't said anything and more importantly, his right hand was still outstretched.

Waiting.

Very slowly, Harry picked up an expectant looking Velvet from his left shoulder and placed her carefully in Snape's right palm. He took his time doing it, sliding his trembling fingers out from under her before looking up at Snape.

"I should deduct points for your cheek, Potter," Snape gritted through clenched teeth. He transferred Caramel and Velvet to his own shoulders, ignoring their wide eyed - one annoyed, one happy - gazes.

"But you won't," Harry said quietly.

Snape's eyes flashed dangerously at that.

"I could give you detention," he warned in a dangerous hiss.

"But you won't," Harry repeated, his tone more wistful than defiant.

Snape stared at him then, something warring in his eyes before he turned away, suddenly looking very tired.

"Off you go, Potter."

Harry took a step forward on impulse.

"Don't... don't stay in your lab the whole of Christmas, sir," he said.

Snape turned back to him, one eyebrow raised in a silent question.

"Caramel and Velvet might miss you if you do," Harry replied.

That eyebrow rose higher, signalling another question, but Harry just shook his head. He had a feeling Snape already knew who else would miss him.

"Merry Christmas, sir," he said instead and turned to walk out of the Great Hall. Ron was probably waiting for him already.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Harry paused.

"Potter."

Slowly, Harry pivoted around. His lips twitched in a smile when he saw Caramel and Velvet waving at him, seemingly recovered from their latest mishap.

"Yes, sir?"

"I daresay Caramel and Velvet will miss you too."

Harry's small smile blossomed into a wide one. Snape wasn't the only one who could guess at cryptic answers.

"I'm glad," he said simply and turned around to walk out, his heart lighter than before. He would look forward to the Christmas festivities at the Burrow, but he would also look forward to coming back to Hogwarts.

\- Chapter End -

**Thank you for reading. Please review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author Notes:** Hello everyone and A Happy Valentine's Day! My apologies if this chapter feels a bit rough, workload has increased and as you know, that doesn't bode well for flighty muses. Anyway, hope it's still enjoyable :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

Today was Valentine's Day.

Hidden under his invisibility cloak, Harry made his way down to the dungeons. Most of the students were still at breakfast in the Great Hall, enjoying - or shuddering at - the lurid pink decorations and the heart shaped toast, pancakes and hash browns, but he was on a mission.

A mission to deliver chocolates to a professor.

A suicidal mission to deliver expensive, imported Belgian dark chocolates to Professor Severus Snape, to be exact.

Harry reached the dungeons without incident and crouched down to place the square, silver wrapped box on the floor just outside Snape's door. He got up and after steeling himself, rapped twice on the door before rushing off to the nearest corner and hiding behind it, his heart thumping madly in his chest.

There were no classes today. Snape hadn't been in the Great Hall earlier so he should still be in his quarters. Harry promised himself he would get back to Ron and Hermione before they noticed his absence, just as soon as he was sure Snape saw the chocolates.

For a few heart stopping seconds, nothing happened. Then...

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Uh oh. That didn't sound promising.

Peeping around the corner, Harry saw Caramel and Velvet approaching Snape's quarters from the other side of the corridor. The two kittens hurried up to the box and started sniffing at it before meowing to each other in excitement. Harry groaned to himself - if cats were curious by nature, then Snape's pets had to be two of the most curious felines ever in existence. He should get the box away from their little paws before they tore it open and ruined his gift, but he had already knocked on the door. Snape could open it at any second!

Biting his lip in mounting indecision, Harry watched as the two kittens started pawing at the box. It didn't take more than a few moments for a sharp claw to tear into the wrapping and soon, the sounds of paper ripping were accompanied by excited little mewls. The sight of the pretty silver paper lying in shredded curls around the two miscreants gave Harry's heart a sharp pang.

Perhaps it was for the best, he told himself glumly. Snape wouldn't eat anything that was sent to him anonymously and he definitely wouldn't eat anything if he knew Harry had sent it. Better to get the evidence away from the kittens and pretend nothing had happened, that today was a normal day just like any other...

Harry took a deep breath and let it out, his lips twisting ruefully at the sight of Caramel and Velvet licking at the treat and meowing happily to each other, their tiny mouths and whiskers getting smeared with chocolate. Oh well, they weren't liqueur filled and it wasn't as if chocolate was poisonous to kittens...

A distant memory stirred in Harry's mind at that last thought. He recalled walking back from elementary school one afternoon and coming across Dudley and gang, tempting a stray cat with a piece of chocolate. Piers Polkiss was crowing loudly about how it was lethal to cats...

"Caramel! Velvet! Stop eating that chocolate!" Throwing off both his cloak and his caution, Harry rushed up to the kittens.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

They merely glanced up at him and waved nonchalant paws in greeting before turning their attention back to the yummy treat in front of them.

"No, stop! You're poisoning yourselves!"

Crouching down again, Harry snatched up the open box and held it above his head, out of reach of the two startled and indignant kittens.

"Meowr!"

"Meowr!"

Not in the least bit deterred, Caramel and Velvet jumped up onto his jean clad thighs. Harry felt the pinpricks of tiny claws digging into his skin as the two felines made their way up his arms, determined eyes fixed on their prize.

"No, get down! They're poisonous to you!" Harry stretched his arms up as high as he could and winced, bending forward when sharp claws traversed from his arms to his chest.

"Ow."

"Meowr!"

"Meowr!"

In the next second, Snape's door was pulled open and all three of them froze. Harry found himself staring at a pair of polished boots and grimaced when he realised what he must look like - kneeling in front of Snape with two kittens hanging from his chest, head bowed and arms stretched above his head, holding the open box of chocolates like some supplicant making an offer to a deity.

Not that Snape wasn't a deity in his eyes, albeit a short tempered and sharp tongued one.

"Potter. I might have known."

Slowly, Harry lowered the box and got to his feet, his gaze travelling up long legs clad in black to narrow hips, a snowy white shirt, damp black hair and the familiar sour faced expression of the resident Potions Master.

"Professor Snape."

Snape looked down at Caramel and Velvet, now meowing and pawing at Harry's legs, and then at the box clutched in his hands, and then finally at his face. He raised a sardonic eyebrow.

"I do not recall asking you to feed my familiars."

Harry turned red.

"I wasn't feeding them, sir. I was just-"

The black eyes dropped down to the box again and narrowed.

"Is that chocolate?" Snape hissed. "You fed them _chocolate?_"

"I didn't feed them, they helped themselves!" Harry protested at once, turning to point down at the floor. "Look, they tore open the box!"

Snape looked at the shredded paper on the floor and then at the kittens who had prudently gone to hide behind Harry's legs, leaving only their tails visible.

"Who put the chocolates there in the first place? And how much did they eat?"

I'm not sure," Harry admitted, ignoring the first question in favour of answering the second. He peered into the box and saw two of the six pieces of chocolate were wet and lopsided, but the other four looked untouched.

"Only a bit," he began only to have long thin fingers pluck the box from his hand.

"Bring Caramel and Velvet inside. Now," Snape ordered before spinning around on his heel.

By the time Harry had scooped up the two kittens and walked inside Snape's quarters, the man was at his potions cupboard, likely getting something to counteract the chocolate. Harry went straight to the sofa and sat down. Recalling what had happened when Caramel and Velvet drank alcohol, he prudently set them down on the coffee table where they sat on their haunches, returning his worried gaze with quizzical ones while licking their mouths clean.

Harry looked up when Snape appeared at his side with a vial of light green liquid and a syringe, the sight of which made both kittens scowl. Obviously, they knew what was coming.

"They look completely fine to me," Harry ventured.

Snape looked down at him the way he might regard something that had crawled out from under a rock.

"I will be the judge of that. And what were you doing outside my quarters, Potter?" he asked in a silky tone. "I do not recall assigning you any detention."

The reckless words _More's the pity_ danced on the tip of Harry's tongue, but he bit them back. "Uhm," he said instead.

Luckily for him, the sound of two trembling meows made them swing back to the coffee table. Caramel and Velvet looked decidedly unwell now, their furry little faces scrunched up as if in pain. With a forceful sigh, Snape went to sit beside Harry.

The next few minutes that followed brought a sense of déjà vu to Harry as he held two shivering kittens who mewled and struggled and squirmed while Snape administered tiny doses of Regurgitating Potion with the help of the syringe. Unlike the other incident when the kittens had merely gotten drunk, Harry felt guilty as hell. It was his fault poor Caramel and Velvet were feeling so sick now and not even the sight of thin, potion stained fingers wrapped around his own could alleviate that feeling.

It took a full five minutes before the Potions Master was satisfied with the dosage given. By then, Harry was heartily wishing he had never heard of Valentine's Day. Both his and Snape's hands were now covered in several long scratches, courtesy of their reluctant patients. He watched in silence as Snape conjured a sturdy bedpan and placed it next to his disgruntled pets. In less than a minute, Caramel and Velvet were heaving into it while Harry leaned forward and stroked their little heads with shaking fingers.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I never should've ordered those blasted chocolates."

"So you admit they were yours, Potter."

Harry froze at the silky voice beside him before turning his head to look at Snape.

"Yes, sir."

"Why did you bring them to the dungeons?"

Harry swallowed hard.

"They were for you," he admitted.

Snape's eyes narrowed at that, but Harry didn't look away despite the heat he could feel pulsing in his cheeks. He didn't know how long they would have continued staring at each other if it weren't for the sound of two loud belches.

Caramel and Velvet had stopped heaving and were lying on their sides on the table, looking as woebegone as two misbehaving kittens could.

"I hope you two now realise the dangers of eating chocolate?" Snape asked them in a dry tone as he _Vanished_ the bedpan.

Two pitiful mewls and ear twitches were his only answer. Shaking his head, he got up and went to his store cupboard again, returning with two more vials.

"Hold out your hands, Potter."

Harry did as he was told and a few drops of clear liquid were dripped onto his palms.

"What is this?" he asked.

Snape did the same thing to his hands and rubbed them together briskly.

"Essence of Dittany."

Harry copied Snape's action, relieved to note the scratches healing almost instantly. He watched as the man administered a few drops of the other potion to Caramel and Velvet.

"Stomach Soother," he said, answering Harry's unasked question. Picking up the box of chocolates, he _Vanished_ the eaten ones before holding out the box to Harry.

"Eat one," he ordered.

Harry looked at the four pieces remaining and then up at Snape. "What? Why?"

"To prove they are not poisoned."

Harry's mouth fell open and he glared at Snape in indignation.

"Of _course_ they aren't poisoned! Why would you even-"

"Then eat one."

Under that cold gaze, Harry shrugged and took a piece. He put it into his mouth and looked at Snape, chewing. Then he paused, eyebrows going up.

"Hey, these are good."

Snape stared at him for a moment longer before picking up a piece of chocolate and putting it in his mouth. He didn't say anything as he chewed slowly and swallowed, but Harry felt something inside him ease at the sight.

Caramel and Velvet sat up and watched the exchange before turning to each other.

"Meow!" _(He ate Harry's chocolate!)_

"Meow." _(Well, no sense in letting them go to waste.)_

"Meow!" _(No, he really liked it!)_

"Meow!" _(No! He's just being polite!)_

A pointed throat clearing had them looking up from their bickering.

"It looks like you two are fully recovered now," Snape observed before turning to Harry. "I trust you have plans for today's infernal celebrations?"

Harry nodded. They consisted solely of remaining seated on this comfortable sofa for the rest of the weekend, but he knew a dismissal when he heard it.

"I... yes, sir. I'll go now."

Snape picked up the two kittens, one in each hand. "Take them with you," he ordered.

Harry's heart started to quicken with anticipation, but his hopes were dashed when the Potions Master dropped Caramel and Velvet into his waiting hands, quite without ceremony and very much without touching him.

"Why aren't they staying with you?" he blurted out.

Again, Snape looked at him as if he were something nasty.

"I have a large order of Stomach Soother to brew for the Infirmary. No doubt Madam Pomfrey will be besieged with dunderheads complaining of stomach ailments by this evening after consuming their body weight in useless confectionery."

"Oh. Right." Cradling the kittens, Harry walked to the door which swung open for him. He stepped out into the dungeons, but something made him glance back and the last thing he saw before the door closed was Snape popping another piece of chocolate it in his mouth and chewing it with his eyes closed.

Smiling to himself, Harry went to retrieve his invisibility cloak.

"Let's go see Ron and Hermione, alright?" he said as he stuffed the cloak into his robe pocket.

With happy little meows of agreement, Caramel and Velvet hopped up onto his shoulders and sat there, looking as if they hadn't been sick a day in their lives. Shaking his head a bit, Harry left the dungeons.

Perhaps the chocolates hadn't been a total waste after all.

\- Chapter End -

**Thank you for reading... please review?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author Notes:** Hello everyone and Happy Easter if you celebrate this day! How time flies, it's almost a year since I posted the first chapter of this story last Easter. Enjoy :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for both logic and the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

Today was Easter Sunday.

Harry knew he should stay away from the dungeons lest he was caught by Snape who would doubtlessly accuse him of wanting to present him with Easter eggs or some such juvenile nonsense. Not that he didn't already have in his schoolbag a pretty box of six carefully decorated chocolate eggs - expensive, imported Belgian dark chocolate at that. Not that he wasn't already at the stairs leading down to the dungeons while everyone else was still in the Great Hall, enjoying hot cross buns, bunny shaped cinnamon rolls, chicken rolls, fruit cake and other tasty Easter treats.

Harry knew he shouldn't even be contemplating this. It was the height of idiocy, feeding the already idiotic crush he had on the sarcastic Potions Master of Hogwarts. Heaving a sigh, he leaned over the balustrade and peered down at the lower levels of the spiral staircase, dimly outlined by the flickering light of torches. He had planned to quickly sprint down there, leave the eggs outside Snape's door and then bolt up here again before his friends finished their breakfast and came looking for him.

After all, what was the worst that could happen - Snape catching him in the act?

Harry couldn't say he would mind that too much.

Snape _not_ catching him in the act?

That would be fine too; Harry had already penciled his initials on the underside of the box. Yes, he shouldn't have, but he had.

Caramel and Velvet coming across his gift before their master did?

OK, that was bad especially after what had happened on Valentine's Day. Harry wasn't sure if their memories were stronger than their inquisitiveness, but it wasn't something he wanted to find out.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Blinking, Harry spun around to see the very two felines he had been thinking of approaching him from the direction of the Great Hall. He knelt down and grinned when they climbed into his lap and meowed happily, pushing their little heads under his hands in a shameless demand for pats.

"What is it now? Are you two hungry for food or for attention?" he teased, stroking their tiny ears with gentle fingertips.

At the mention of food, Caramel and Velvet looked up at him, all big eyes, perked up ears and hopeful expressions.

"Meow..."

"Meow..."

Chuckling, Harry slid his schoolbag off of his shoulder and opened it, pushing aside the box of Easter eggs.

"I should have something here. Let's see... chocolate frog - nope, hot cross buns, the snack Hermione gave me last week... yes, that should do nicely."

He pulled out the small yellow packet, quite relieved to get rid of the healthy sugar free crackers under the guise of doing a good deed. When the two kittens started pawing at it, he held it out of reach.

"Meow!"

"Meow!"

"Let me open it first," he told them.

Undeterred, Caramel and Velvet crouched low, little rumps wiggling, before springing at the snack at the same time.

"Hey!"

Four enthusiastic paws had batted the packet from Harry's fingers and sent it sailing over the balustrade where it hovered tantalisingly for an instant before falling out of sight. Harry jumped up and peered over the balustrade but couldn't spot the packet on the steps anywhere. He turned to give the kittens an exasperated look.

"You two are going to get Hermione in trouble. Everyone knows those snacks come from her and down there is Slytherin territory," he scolded them.

Caramel and Velvet turned to each other with guilty expressions.

"Meow." _(We didn't mean to do that.)_

"Meow." _(And Hermione's a nice girl too.)_

"Meow." _(We'd better go get it back.)_

"Meow!" _(After all, Slytherin territory is our territory too!)_

Without further ado, the two kittens ran to the stairs and dashed down the steps.

"Hey, wait!" Slinging his schoolbag onto his shoulder again, Harry rushed after them.

\- o -

The packet had fallen down the hollow centre of the spiral staircase and landed right at the bottom, on the lowest level of the dungeons.

Relieved there was no one around, Harry bent down and pulled it from Caramel and Velvet's little teeth. He straightened up and then looked over his shoulder at the corridor where Snape's quarters were, tempted.

After all, he was already here, wasn't he?

Before he could talk himself out of it, he was jogging down that corridor with one excited kitten and another suspicious one at his heels. In front of the now familiar door, he knelt down and opened his schoolbag again, carefully taking out the box of Easter eggs.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

"No, these are not for you," Harry told them, opening the box for a final check. He sighed when Caramel and Velvet immediately pushed their faces closer only to step back with disappointed pouts.

"Yeah, they're chocolate," Harry said absently, frowning down at the six eggs.

They were larger than chicken eggs and had looked perfect on his bed covers, nestled in their box of red velvet when Hedwig delivered them yesterday morning. Now, sitting on the stone floor, they looked... too few. Harry bit his lower lip, assailed by last minute doubts. He should have gotten the deluxe box with a dozen eggs.

Why hadn't he?

It wasn't as if he couldn't afford them!

Wait - Hermione had taught him and Ron the Gemino charm a couple of weeks ago. If he did it right - Harry pushed aside a niggling hint of doubt - Snape wouldn't be any the wiser. And if Snape decided not to eat the chocolates after all - Harry ignored the pang in his chest - twelve would still look a lot better than six, right?

Nodding to himself, Harry took out his wand and pointed it at the box.

"Meow."

"Meow"

Caramel and Velvet had pushed the slightly chewed up packet up against his leg and were giving him exasperated frowns that said 'Open it already!'

"I will, just give me a moment," Harry told them and turned back to the box of eggs.

"_Geminio,_" he whispered and the eggs started wriggling. "Oops, I forgot to make the box bigger first. Right. _Finite incant-_"

"Meowr!"

"Meowr!"

Harry broke off as the packet landed in his lap, followed by two impatient kittens.

"Alright, I'll open it! Just let me cancel the - hey!"

Caramel and Velvet had jumped up and knocked his wand from his hand. Harry jerked his head to the side in time to see it land several feet away, the loud clatter it made masking several popping sounds.

With an exasperated sigh, he snatched up the snack. Snape's kittens truly had the patience of a gnat; they were now climbing up his arms, two golden eyes and two green ones affixed on their prize. Holding the packet high over his head, Harry pulled on the top and felt it tear.

"OK, I've opened it. Get down, you two!" he hissed - they were now trying to climb on top of his head, two back paws pushing down on each of his ears and almost dislodging his glasses. Screwing his eyes shut against the danger sharp little claws posed, Harry hoped he wouldn't end up with ears like Yoda - wouldn't Snape love _that._

In the next second, the door in front of him was pulled open and all three of them froze.

Great, Harry thought miserably to himself, eyes still squeezed shut. This time, Caramel and Velvet were hanging from the sides of his head instead of his chest while he was holding aloft an offering of healthy snack instead of chocolates. What sort of flavour were they anyway? Carrot? Beetroot? Potato?

"Fish flavoured crackers, Mr. Potter?" came the deep, mocking tones of the Potions Master. "How... unorthodox. Were the shops out of Belgian chocolates this time around?"

Harry flushed red from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, ready to die of embarrassment right there and then. Dropping the packet on the floor - it crinkled as Caramel and Velvet pounced on it - he jerked his head up to see a freshly showered Snape glowering down at him, arms folded across his chest.

"Uhm, that isn't for you, sir. I did get you chocolates - here they are."

Harry snatched up the opened box only to blink down at it in shock. There were more than six eggs squashed there. Oh Merlin, he hadn't cancelled the Gemino charm!

"Gah." Setting the box down again, Harry scrambled over to his wand on his hands and knees. A series of popping sounds made him look back to see Snape pointing his own wand at the now overflowing box while Caramel and Velvet stared at it with round eyes, coveted snack forgotten for the time being.

Twelve had become twenty four.

_"Finite incantatem!"_ Harry shouted in the exact same instant Snape intoned, _"Evanesco!"_

Their spells collided in a flash of bright yellow light that enveloped the box. Caramel and Velvet yowled and jumped back, their fur standing on end.

Blinking colourful spots from his eyes, Harry stared at the box, mouth dropping open. Not only were the two dozen eggs still there, they had now grown tiny yellow legs and were stepping over each other as they escaped their crowded home. As Snape, Harry and the two kittens stared at them, the eggs scurried past Snape's polished boots and into his quarters, spreading out in all directions.

Snape whipped back to Harry and pinned him with a black glare.

"What is the meaning of this prank, Potter?" he snarled.

"It's not a prank, I was cancelling the spell!" Harry protested, getting up. "You shouldn't have tried to _Vanish_ them at the same time!"

Snape opened his mouth and then snapped it shut, a look of dismay crossing his thin face. He spun around again to stare at his living room, but there was no sign of the twenty four eggs. The only thing that gave away their presence was another series of popping sounds, now muffled.

Harry winced - make that forty eight eggs.

"Get in here and help me look for those blasted eggs right now!" Snape ordered, standing to one side.

Harry hurried in, face still flushed with embarrassment. Grabbing a fish cracker each, Caramel and Velvet scampered after him, their eyes gleaming in renewed excitement. After sniffing around, they jumped up onto the sofa and pulled aside the middle cushion with sharp little teeth, revealing ten eggs hiding there with triumphant mewls.

Snape grunted in approval and conjured up a large sack which he thrust at Harry, jerking his head towards the sofa.

Without a word, Harry went over and held the sack open for the two kittens to herd the eggs into. The other cushions revealed several more eggs, but by the time they were safely bagged, there was another series of popping sounds and the sack had grown heavier.

"Cancel your spell now!" Snape barked at Harry, looking incensed as he juggled several eggs, one of them trying to run up his arm. "Only the caster can-"

"Only the caster can cancel it, I know," Harry said hastily. He waved his wand in a wide circle, ignoring Snape's swiftly masked flinch, and hoped his spell would reach all the eggs wherever they might be hiding. _"Finite Incantatem!"_

They listened intently for about half a minute and to their relief, no more popping sounds were heard.

"Now get the rest of the eggs. There should be a total of ninety six," Snape said grimly. He dropped the eggs he had into the sack before striding over to his bookshelves to check them.

Harry followed the kittens as they went through the armchairs, side tables and coffee table like well trained sheepdogs, efficiently uncovering several more eggs which they happily chased into the sack Harry held open. The bathroom was their next destination and they found another ten eggs hiding in the sink, seven in the bathtub, three behind the toilet and one on top of the mirror.

Emerging from the bathroom with the sack held in both arms - the eggs were remarkably heavy - Harry found a grim faced Snape waiting for him with an armful of eggs and two sitting on each shoulder. Biting back a grin, he held open the sack and took a deep breath as Snape bent forward to drop the eggs inside, ignoring the suspicious glare from the man as he straightened up.

"How many have you collected? Did you count them?" Snape demanded.

"Seventy eggs, sir, before you dropped the last batch in."

"I had fourteen. That makes eighty four."

"Meow."

"Meow."

They both turned around to see Caramel and Velvet running after a lone egg scurrying towards a door that had been left ajar.

"That must be where the last twelve are hiding, sir," Harry pointed out in relief and quickly followed the kittens.

"Potter, that's my bedroom!"

\- o -

It was indeed and looked the same as it did the last time Harry was in here. There was even the same grey nightshirt lying on the bed. The only difference was the dozen eggs walking about on the covers.

Harry neared the bed where Caramel and Velvet had started to herd the eggs into a neat circle. He should be stuffing them in the sack, but his hand had different ideas and picked up the nightshirt instead.

Bringing the soft material it to his nose, he inhaled deeply of its scent - aaaah!- and ignored Caramel's scolding meows and Velvet's delighted noises of encouragement.

"Potter!"

With a squeak, Harry spun around to see Snape standing in the doorway, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You _were_ smelling that!" the Potions Master accused, looking vexed and bewildered and mortified all at the same time.

"I-I wasn't!" Harry quickly swung back to the bed and held the sack open for a disgruntled Caramel and a happy Velvet to push the eggs in, each kitten continuing to keep a sharp eye on the two wizards. "OK, done!"

"Now drop the nightshirt and give me the sack at once!" Snape ordered, marching inside the room.

In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have issued two different commands in the same sentence. Harry, flustered and embarrassed, did the exact opposite, holding out the garment to Snape... and dropping the bulging sack on the floor.

Ninety six beautifully decorated eggs immediately spilled out of the opening and made a beeline for the bedroom door. On the bed, Caramel and Velvet face pawed themselves before starting a cacophony of high pitched, aggrieved sounding mewls.

"I'm sorry!" Harry told them. "He told me to drop it and I - er..."

"I told you to drop my shirt!"

"You shouted at me, I got confused!"

"It was just two commands, Potter! And stop sniffing at it, for Merlin's sake, I've already worn - give it to me right now!"

Snape snatched his nightshirt from Harry, tossed it onto the bed where it promptly covered and silenced two indignant kittens, and then loomed over Harry.

"I did _not_ ask you to drop the sack," he began only to be interrupted by Caramel and Velvet whose small heads popped out of his nightshirt.

"Meow!"

"Meow!"

"This is all Potter's fault," Snape told them, still pinning Harry with his ferocious glare. "If he hadn't picked up my nightshirt and sniffed it, he wouldn't have-"

"Because it smells just like you!"

No sooner were the words out of Harry's mouth than he wished he could swallow them back. He could feel his entire head about explode with heat as he forced himself to hold Snape's shocked gaze, the man opening and closing his mouth with no sound coming out. Until...

"Meowr!"

"Meowr!"

Blinking, Snape and Harry turned to see Caramel and Velvet pointing at the open doorway of the bedroom through which a single egg could be seen running towards the front door, holding what looked like a bundle of knotted grass over its head.

"They... they have arms," Harry stated the obvious in a disbelieving voice. "They only had legs earlier."

Hurrying out, they saw that last egg run out the door, almost tripping up on the packet of crackers the kittens had left in the corridor.

For a long moment, there was only silence and then Snape uttered a strangled sound and rushed to his potions cupboard, flinging both doors wide open. The shelves were empty save for a similar bundle of grass on the bottom shelf.

Snape stared at it before throwing his head back and letting loose a howl of rage which Harry swore was the manliest scream he had ever heard.

_To be continued..._

**A/N:** Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the silliness! Please review?


	10. Chapter 10

**Author Notes:** Hello everyone and thank you once again for the lovely reviews! Sorry for the delay in getting this next chapter out. Enjoy :)

**Warnings:** This is an experiment mixing my preference with my daughter's who is the co-author of this story. Hence, there are two OCs, some OOCness, some fluff and a general disregard for both logic and the more serious incidents in canon.

\- Chapter Start -

Harry's ears were still ringing with Snape's howl of rage when the Potions Master spun around and loomed over him, black eyes snapping in fury.

"Cupboard - empty! Ingredients - gone! Potions - stolen! You are in very, very, _very_ deep trouble, Potter!"

Harry gulped, taking an automatic step backward. On either side of him, Caramel and Velvet did the same, crouched low with their little ears flattened against their heads.

Grinding his crooked teeth in fury, Snape swung back to the cupboard, grabbing handfuls of his hair and looking like he was about to yank them out by the roots.

"One pack of red flame leaves, two bottles of ruby dust-"

"Meow?"

"- three vials of essence of dittany, four vials of essence of rosewater-"

"Meow?"

"- five jars of numbing salve, six vials of stomach soother-"

"Mee-oof!"

"Mee-ouff!"

Blinking, Harry looked down to see Caramel and Velvet, each gripping a mouthful of the hem of his jeans as they tried to tug him towards the door.

"Oh, the eggs! Right."

With a final guilty look back at Snape who was still reciting what appeared to be the entire inventory of his potions cupboard, Harry hurried out into the corridor, Caramel and Velvet at his heels. Then Caramel skidded to a stop and spun around. She dashed back inside Snape's quarters and emerged a few moments later with the empty sack clamped between her teeth.

"Good thinking, Caramel! Let's go!"

"Meee-ow!"

Sprinting down the corridor, they rounded the corner and saw that same egg hopping up the spiral staircase that led out of the dungeons, still holding the bundle of grass over its head. Harry exchanged horrified looks with the kittens, his stomach dropping to the floor.

Was that where the other ninety five eggs had gone?

Harry's mind immediately pictured a sea of colourful eggs reaching the top of the stairs and spreading over the main floor of Hogwarts, gleefully depositing the precious contents of Snape's cupboard in every nook and cranny of the castle and grounds, forest and lake. His stomach dropped even deeper than the floor.

Snape was _so_ going to kill him. And then give him detention for the rest of his life.

\- o -

A movement out of the corner of Severus' eye stopped his incensed recitation. He turned his head to see Caramel dashing out of his bedroom, almost tripping on the sack she was dragging along.

Pulling himself together, Severus closed his cupboard doors (a rather moot action although he didn't realise it until later), hurried out of his quarters and down the corridor. Rounding the corner, he saw Potter and the kittens standing at the base of the spiral staircase and staring up at a small orb going up the steps.

Before he could say anything, Potter (typical thoughtless Gryffindor that he was) had started charging after the egg, closely followed by the kittens (curious and impulsive creatures that _they_ were). Gnashing his teeth in exasperation, Severus moved closer and tipped his head back, cursing when he saw the rest of the eggs approaching the second floor of the dungeons.

Only one floor remained between them and the rest of the castle. It would be next to impossible to track down those eggs _and_ get back his ingredients once they reached the top of the stairs, not to mention the rumours that would fly around if word got out that Potter had given him chocolates. For Easter.

Feeling hot and cold at the very thought, Severus drew his wand and aimed it.

_"Protego!"_

The eggs at the head of the pack promptly collided with a shield that suddenly shimmered in front of them. Severus winced at the clattering of dropped vials and thanked Merlin he used unbreakable vials for all his ingredients.

Undeterred, the little wretches turned around and ran back down the steps, knocking into the others and causing more sounds of dropped things. There were cries and meows of alarm before the eggs fled to the third floor corridor of the dungeons, consisting of unused classrooms.

The opportunity that presented itself was too good to miss. Severus rushed up the stairs and ushered a wide eyed Potter and the kittens onto the same corridor before casting another Protego behind them, effectively trapping the eggs on the same floor. Nodding in grim satisfaction, he turned to Potter.

"Get those blasted eggs. Now!"

"Yes, sir!"

Lighting his wand, Potter charged down the long dark corridor with a little sea of multicoloured eggs before them, Caramel and Velvet following in hot pursuit.

Severus lit his own wand and followed. Something was sparkling red up ahead - two of those blasted eggs still had his vials of precious ruby dust! Picking up speed, he moved to the right side of the corridor, intent on getting ahead of them and cutting them off. Potter apparently had the same idea for he had moved to the left side of the corridor.

As soon as Severus drew level with the head of the pack, he lunged to the left and saw Potter lunging towards him at the same time. In the next instant, as if obeying an unspoken command, the sea of eggs split right down the middle with military precision - half of them veering to the right, the other half to the left.

Too late, Severus realised he was on a collision course with Potter, his horrified gaze full of a pair of rapidly closing in green eyes before-

CRASH!

The resultant collision left both of them flat on their backs on the floor while the eggs happily scuttled past them and further down the corridor. Severus blinked up at three little eggs chasing each other round and round above his head. Were those... little vials... they... were carrying...?

And then the world went dark.

\- o -

"Meow? Meow!"

Severus opened bleary eyes and encountered a pair of concerned golden orbs.

"Velvet?" he muttered and started coughing. Something warm and furry was pressing against his throat, chin and mouth.

"Meow." Velvet stopped leaning against his jaw and nonchalantly stepped down from his throat.

Sitting up with a groan, Severus carefully probed his throbbing shoulder. It felt like he had hit something hard with it. The sound of another groan made him turn to see Potter lying flat on his back a few feet away with Caramel on his face, fore paws on his glasses and back paws on his throat.

"Meow meow."

"Wha - can't see. Geroff-"

Potter went into a similar coughing fit, prompting Caramel to carefully step down from his throat. He sat up and winced, clutching at his head before looking around him, green eyes wide behind the smudged lens.

"What happened?"

"We collided," was Severus' dry reply as he stood up, wand in hand.

Potter scrambled up as well and went to retrieve his wand which had fallen a few feet away.

"Meow!"

"Meow!"

Caramel and Velvet had stopped in front of a suit of armour four feet away and were pointing at it with their right forepaws.

"What is it?" Harry moved towards them.

Spotting the two eggs jostling for space on top of the helmet, Severus cleared his throat and jerked his head at them.

"Oh."

\- o -

This time around, the egg hunt went far easier. With all the rooms on this floor locked, the only hiding places were the suits of armour placed along the corridor.

Caramel and Velvet led the way, running from one suit of armour to the next and pointing to each one with the precision of trained hunting dogs coupled with excited high pitched mewls. Potter opened visors and lifted helmets, removed spears and lowered shields, dropping the revealed eggs into the sack hovering at his side. Severus went around and collected the dropped ingredients and vials, storing them in another sack he had conjured up.

Neither wizard exchanged a single word the entire time.

Within thirty minutes, they had collected all ninety six eggs. Severus cancelled the two shields at the staircase and strode back to his quarters where he _Vanished_ the egg box and packet of fish crackers outside his door, ignoring Caramel and Velvet's sad protests. He then swept inside his quarters and spun around, scowling at Harry who was cradling the heavy sack in his arms and staring hopefully at him.

Caramel walked in before turning to see Velvet sitting next to Harry's left shoe.

"Meow?" _(Velvet? Aren't you coming in?)_

"Meow." _(Not if Harry isn't.)_

"Meow." _(Er... I don't think Severus is going to let him in this time.)_

"Meow!" _(He must! Look how tired he is. He's swaying!)_

"Meow." _(That's due to the weight of the sack.)_

"Meow!" _(No, it's due to exhaustion!)_

"Meow!" _(No! Eggs!)_

Pouting, Velvet leapt up and clung to Harry's jean clad leg, all four limbs and tail wrapped around it as if she were a baby monkey clinging to its mother. When Caramel narrowed her eyes at her, she narrowed her own right back. They were just about to continue their argument when they became aware of the growing silence and looked up.

Severus and Harry were still staring at each other.

Severus' black eyes were narrowed.

Harry's green eyes were rounded.

Severus' long hair was plastered to his forehead.

Harry's unruly hair was also plastered to his forehead, half hiding his famous scar and the darkening bruise beside it.

Severus had a nerve ticking away in his tightly clenched jaw.

Harry was biting his lip.

And in the end, it was Severus who moved first, raising his wand and pointing it at Harry's face. Caramel and Velvet's mouths fell open, as did Harry's, but a murmured word and a tingle of magic later, the bruise on Harry's forehead faded.

"Thank you, sir."

Severus just snorted and stood to one side.

"Do _not_ think you are getting away without putting my potions cupboard to rights, Potter."

"No, sir!" Harry beamed at him as if he had just been awarded an 'O' for his Potions OWL. He hastened inside, walking a bit awkwardly because of the grey kitten still clinging to his leg.

"Meow!" _(This is all your fault, Velvet!)_

"Meow." _(Is not.)_

"Meow!" _(Is too!)_

"Meow!" _(Is not!)_

Velvet hopped off Harry's leg and turned around to face Caramel. Both felines were all prepared to continue their little argument when the sound of two two loud rumblings from their little tummies made them pause. In a well rehearsed motion, they plonked themselves down on their haunches and looked up at Severus expectantly, little ears perked.

Shaking his head, Severus went to the fireplace and tossed in a pinch of floo powder.

A few moments later, a dish of grilled fish and another of milk appeared on the coffee table. Uttering happy little meows, the two kittens sprang up onto the table and practically dived into the food, argument pushed aside for now.

Severus watched them eat, a small smile softening the harsh lines on his face until he turned around and saw Harry still staring at him.

"Give that to me," Severus snapped, ignoring the accidental brush of their fingers when Harry handed him the sack. He tied it tightly and put it the floor beside the sofa.

A rather awkward silence commenced, broken only by the sound of another tummy growling.

"Did you skip breakfast, Potter?" Snape barked, relieved to have something to say.

"I was planing to go the Great Hall right after I, uhm, delivered your, uh, chocolates," Harry mumbled. "Only... well, you know-"

The sound of another rumbling tummy interrupted him.

"Did _you_ skip breakfast as well, sir?"

Severus folded his arms and glared at him. "I was about to have mine when I heard a commotion outside my door," he said.

"Ah."

Their tummies rumbled again. Muttering under his breath, Severus spun around and went back to the fireplace.

Half a minute later, a tray of sandwiches, fruit cake, pumpkin juice and coffee appeared on the coffee table. After a quick assessing glance at the dishes, Caramel and Velvet went back to enjoying their own breakfast.

"Sit down, Potter," Severus ordered. "You will need your strength for your detention."

"Yes, sir."

Neither chose to point out this was the first detention Severus had given Harry in a month.

Neither chose to point out Severus wasn't the type who cared if a student had eaten or not.

Neither of them chose to point out they were now sitting side by side on the same sofa and eating from the same tray with one pair of hopeful golden eyes and another pair of suspicious green ones eyeing them the whole time.

\- o -

_Another hour later..._

Harry closed the cupboard doors with a relieved sigh. He had wiped down every shelf before replacing the ingredients and vials to Snape's exact requirements, noted in minute detail on a piece of parchment.

Looking down, Harry smiled at his two assistants who had helped to pass him the ingredients from the sack. Of course, it was partly their fault why he had ended up in this mess in the first place, but well, they had made up for it by catching all those eggs for him.

"Thanks for your help, girls. I appreciate it," he said and crouched down, scratching them behind their ears.

"I'm never going to order chocolates for your master again," he added in a low voice. "Right now, I'm sick of even the sight of them."

Uttering commiserating meows, they climbed into his lap, taking his words to mean that all was forgiven.

A pointed throat clearing had all three of them looking up. Snape was staring at them from his usual armchair, an open book on his lap. He jerked his head at the bulging sack by the sofa.

"One final task, Potter," he said softly.

Harry's heart sank as he stood up with a kitten in each hand. No doubt Snape was going to tell him to leave and take his unwanted gift with him. Harry ignored the pang in his heart, telling himself he would share the original six eggs with the boys in his dorm and pretend that had been his plan all along. Ron could have his share.

"Dispose of the duplicated eggs now," Snape ordered.

"Here? Why?"

A dark eyebrow rose.

"How else will I get the original eggs?" came the answer in a silky voice.

In a heartbeat, a frowning Caramel and an expectant Velvet were deposited on the sofa, and Harry was focusing his wand at the sack.

_"Finite Incantatem,"_ he whispered. He waited until after the sack had wriggled and deflated before untying it and removing the six remaining eggs sans limbs. Carefully, he placed them in the centre of the coffee table, wishing his hands weren't shaking.

Caramel and Velvet leapt onto the table at once, eyeing the eggs warily as if they might come alive again at any second.

"Eat one, Potter. Just to make sure it isn't poisoned," Snape said.

This time, Harry just smiled, taking the invitation for what it it was and completely forgetting what he had told Caramel and Velvet just moments ago. He sat down on the sofa, picked up the nearest egg and bit into it. Rich dark chocolate filled his mouth, making him hum with pleasure. It was every bit as good as the Valentine's Day chocolates.

A long fingered hand entered his sight of vision and closed around the next egg, and then Snape was biting into it with his eyes closed, a very low rumble issuing from his throat. Smiling, Harry took another bite of his egg, loathe to close his eyes even for a moment.

The peaceful, chocolate flavoured silence lasted all of five seconds before...

"Meow!" Caramel glared reprovingly at Snape, eyes narrowed.

"Meow!" Velvet shoved Caramel to one side as she waved an airy 'pray ignore us and continue enjoying that' paw at Snape.

The Potions Master just stared at them with a baffled look on his face before turning to see Harry gaping at him again, cheeks pink and chocolate egg melting on his fingers. He scowled.

"Your detention is over, Potter."

"I... oh. Yes, sir." Harry crammed the rest of the egg into his mouth and licked his fingers clean, unaware of narrowed dark eyes watching him.

"Take Caramel and Velvet with you." Snape's voice sounded a bit strained.

Nodding, Harry scooped up the pouting kittens, his school bag and headed for the door which swung open for him. His footsteps slowed down once he reached it and he glanced over his shoulder, unwilling to leave without a final look.

Snape was picking up the four remaining eggs and placing them inside a small box, his movements slow and careful.

"Meow," Caramel groused.

Snape's head snapped towards them and then he froze, two splotches of pink appearing on his cheeks.

"Was there something else you wanted, Potter?"

Biting back the 'Yes, to stay here all day with you please' dancing on the tip of his tongue, Harry shook his head.

"No, sir. Happy Easter," he said softly and left, the door closing behind him with an audible click.

"Meow?"

"Meow?"

Harry took a deep breath and smiled down at Caramel and Velvet.

"I'm fine, that ended way better than I'd hoped. Let's go find Ron and Hermione, I bet Hermione still has some of those fish flavoured snacks for you."

Meowing happily in agreement, they climbed up onto his shoulders as Harry headed for the spiral staircase, his heart lighter than it had been a couple of hours ago.

He would give something the next time round... just not chocolates.

\- Chapter End -

**A/N: **Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed :)


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